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87
SECTION IV
PERSONAL HEALTH AND RELATED SERVICES
General
Publication of the Seebohm Report, recommendations from
which form the basis of the Local Authority Social Services Bill
now before parliament, appears to have increased rather than
abated the confusion concerning the various local authority services
and their staffs. Adding to the perturbation is the second "green
paper" which professes to provide a framework within which illhealth prevention and health promotion will be given fresh and
stronger impetus. How these two contemplated legislative measures
which seek to divide health and social welfare and remove from
the health aspects those very sources which have been important
adjuncts in preventing break-down can achieve this objective is
difficult to visualise. In many quarters, they are viewed with
serious misgivings and some alarm.
The position of the health visitor is unique. She has a high
standard of medical knowledge backed by more than 100 years of
progress and experience in the personal services field which, with
her practical understanding of psychology and social science, sets
her apart from the purely social worker. However, although she
may speak with authority on most aspects of welfare and wellbeing she is primarily an expert in child care and it must not be
forgotten that this is where the future has its origins and nothing
is more important than to start right.
It must be a matter of conjecture as to whether the proposed
dichotomy of our services would provide the same intimate relationships and services to the family and individual as hitherto when
under the new circumstances much would depend upon the cooperation between departments which could be as good or as bad
as local personalities would allow. Time will be the final arbiter.
Inevitably such uncertainties have their effect upon recruitment
and upon the morale of existing staffs and they tend to be disruptive
to the department generally.
Staff
Our staffing situation improved slightly this year in that recruitment more nearly covered losses, though there were periods of