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8
Public Health Department,
Blue Star House,
234/244 Stockwell Road,
S.W.9.
Tel: 01-274 7722
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses
of the London Borough of Lambeth
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have pleasure in presenting my report on the health of the Borough for the
year 1968.
The population has continued to fall despite an annual excess of births over
deaths. Allowing for this natural increase there has been a movement of population
out of the Borough of over 23,000 since 1965. While this movement of population
has had little effect generally on demands on the Council's health services, it
has caused difficulties in maintaining essential contact with the mobile families.
This was particularly the case with the protection of children against infectious
disease, which required the completion of a course of immunisation extending over
the early months of life. Despite these difficulties and the reluctance of some
parents to recognise the need for the protection of their children in the absence of
any evidence of disease, a reasonably satisfactory level of immunity against
diphtheria and poliomyelitis has been maintained. Any appreciable fall in the
level of immunity would bring about a serious risk of outbreaks of these diseases.
With regard to the Domiciliary Midwifery Service an increasing number of confinements
are taking place in hospital, but at the same time there has been a
substantial increase in the number of early discharges from hospital requiring
supervision of mothers and babies in their home by the domiciliary midwives. An
interesting development is the proposed allocation of a small number of beds at
the Weir Maternity Hospital as a general practitioner obstetric unit. Patients
admitted for confinement would be attended by general practitioner obstetricians
and domiciliary midwives, as if they were at home, but the facilities of the
hospital would be readily available in the case of need. It is hoped that the unit
will be open early in 1969.
Planning for the development and improvement of services has continued
actively throughout the year, and it is expected that several new buildings will
open within the next two years. The first two junior training schools in the
Borough opened at the beginning of the autumn term. These two schools, housed
in converted premises, provide accommodation for 105 mentally handicapped
children, many of whom had previously to attend training centres in other boroughs.
These two schools will be replaced by purpose built premises within the next two