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Borough Council, are asked to obtain full co-operation with the general
practitioners in the neighbourhood, while in another part it is the local
supervising authority, i.e., the County Council. In this respect, the
County Council's scheme under the Midwives Act, 1936, is still under
consideration and any action might well be left until the discussions are
finished and the duties to be undertaken by each body clearly defined.
(2) Consultant Services.
The Council have appointed two consultants for the assistance of
general practitioners under the Puerperal Fever and Puerperal Pyrexia
Regulations, 1926, and two other consultants who may be called in at
any time by any general practitioner who finds himself faced with a
complicated labour. These latter were appointed upon the publication
of the interim report of the Departmental Committee on Maternal
Mortality, and have been called in to many cases. The general practitioners
in the district are fully aware of the facilities for the service of
consultants, and no further action is required to be taken by the Council
as the existing service is now adequate.
(3) Emergency Units.
It is suggested that arrangements should be made for an emergency
unit consisting of consultant and nurse with all necessary equipment
for attendance at short notice when summoned by a doctor. A call for
such a unit in Lambeth must be unusual, as no case is known to have
occurred during the past nine years where a unit of this kind has been
required.
(4) Maternity Accommodation.
No action is required to be taken by the Council to provide for further
maternity beds. The hospitals and maternity homes in and near the
district already provide an adequate number of available beds.
(5) Ante-natal Services.
The welfare centres and hospitals have at the moment sufficient
ante-natal clinics and no woman need travel more than half a mile from
her home to the nearest clinic. The demand is slowly increasing and, as
the Council are aware, has been met from time to time by the inauguration
of new clinics or the provision of extra sessions at clinics already
in existence.
The number of expectant mothers who do not attend clinics is almost
confined to those booking practising midwives for domiciliary confinements.
In this connexion a little is done by refusing financial assistance
towards the payment of a midwife unless there has been attendance at
an ante-natal clinic. Moreover, compensation is paid by the Council
when the midwife loses her case owing to the clinic advising against
domiciliary confinement.
(6) Post-natal Clinics.
As stated generally in the report, it is true that in Lambeth the postnatal
attendances have not kept pace with the ante-natal. Post-natal
cases are already seen at every ante-natal clinic as advised in the
circular, and no cases requiring treatment are unable to obtain it.
Owing to the close collaboration of the ante-natal clinics with the many
institutions in and around the borough, it can be stated that there is no
need, in so far as Lambeth is concerned, for the establishment of a new
gynaecological clinic at a woman's hospital or a general hospital.