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154
mond Street and the University College Hospital. In addition, one
doctor completed the Course of the National Association for
Mental Health which enables her to assess the educational needs
of those considered sub-normal.
Our medical staff are particularly grateful for the liaison with
the Brook Hospital Post Graduate Medical Centre whereby they
are able to meet medical colleagues working in different specialties and which affords them the use of the excellent facilities of
a comprehensive medical library, where the staff are always so
helpful.
A further link has been forged with the British Hospital for
Mothers and Babies where a monthly obstetric meeting is held
between the hospital and local authority doctors and nurses.
Health Education (including Centres and Schools)
It is the practice in this Borough for a health education committee
consisting of Health Visitors and School Nurses to meet
monthly and, with the help of the Health Education Officer, to
cover each month of the year with a planned topic. Posters and
leaflets are selected to support the topic chosen for the month
and, if no suitable material is available, the Health Education
Section with ideas from this committee, is able to fill the gap.
This committee also reviews new films, leaflets and posters and
assesses their suitability for use in health visiting and school fields.
Health Visitors continue to teach various groups both in the
Health Centres and outside in the community but it was in the
primary school that we made our greatest impact. Our successful
Health Education programmes for the Primary School child continued on a high plane throughout 1971 when 226 school sessions
were undertaken.
There is a growing awareness by teachers in local schools of the
wide range of health topics that can be used in learning programmes
for their pupils. After discussion with the School Health
personnel many teachers have been happy to continue the instruction themselves, although some schools continued to rely on
the School Nurses or Health Visitor to carry out the teaching;
in others, teaching and nursing staff have co-operated in the
programmes.
In two Secondary Schools, teachers specialising in Health
Education were engaged, thereby relieving School Health personnel from the tasks for which they had previously been responsible.
This accounts for the decrease in the number of sessions
throughout the year.
Much is heard about the cycle of deprivation which is becom-