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ADVISORY SERVICE TO DIRECTORATE OF SOCIAL SERVICES
The Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 became operative in April 1971.
In Lambeth it was decided to implement the Act as from January, 1971. From
that date, the services provided by the former Children's and Welfare Departments,
and certain Personal Health Services provided by the Health Department, became
the statutory responsibility of the new Social Services Directorate. At the same
time, with the re-organisation of the Health Directorate itself, its function to
provide an Advisory Medical Service to the Social Services Directorate became
clearly defined.
Senior Medical Officers continue to provide general advice on medical
aspects of child care for children of all ages over the whole range of child
'caring' services, both day and residential. This includes children in foster homes,
family group homes, residential nurseries, daily minders and play groups. Medical
advice on individual children, particularly the handicapped child and those at
risk of handicapping conditions, continued to be available and provided to individual
Social Workers. The uptake and utilization of this information varied in some
circumstances. This was mainly due to the disturbance and upheaval caused by
re-organisation of the Health and Social Services Directorates. However the
problems are not insolvable and I look forward to the smooth running of the
Directorates in their changing roles with a consequent total improvement in the
quality of services to the community.