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56
CHIROPODY
The chiropody service is at present provided in part directly by the Council
and in part by Lambeth Old People's Welfare Association to which the Council
makes a grant for the purpose.
Treatment is provided by the Council at six centres for certain priority
classes including the aged, expectant and nursing mothers, school children and
the handicapped. During the latter part of the year the Council extended the
service to include domiciliary treatment.
During the year 2,376 patients were treated involving 11,064 treatments.
In addition, the departments provides chiropody service in welfare homes
for which the Welfare Department pays. Service was provided for 381 people
and 2,454 treatments were given.
HOME HELP SERVICE
The service is organised in three areas staffed by a home help organiser
and clerical staff based in officers in Offley Road (North Lambeth), Loughborough
Maternity and Child Health Centre (Lambeth Central), and Riggindale Road
Maternity and Child Health Centre (Lambeth South) The service was provided to
4,381 applicants during the year.
During the year approximately four-fifths of the applicants to whome the
service was provided were over 65 years of age. The remaining 20% were
families and individuals with a wide variety of needs.
Morning and evening home helps provided a service which prevented the
necessity to receive children into care. Free help was given to households where
mothers suffered from toxaemia of pregnancy. Confinement cases continued to
make only limited demands on the service.
Although the provision of specially trained home helps to teach mothers how
to run their homes was made in only a few cases, the results were most encouraging.
In-service training was given to new entrants to the Home Help staff, and
refresher courses were arranged for the more experienced. Discussion revealed
the concern which home helps feel for their clients, and aided in planning future
courses.