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106
a total of £6,625. (The footings and ground floor walls are to be built
of such a strength as to permit of the erection of a first floor at a future
date.)
Under date 23rd October a letter was received from the Ministry of
Health agreeing to the erection of the new clinic by direct labour and
giving formal consent to the borrowing of the following sums:—
Purchase of land (site) £1,530—period 60 years.
Building and plant £5,095—period 30 years.
Early in 1936 the houses occupying the site were represented as unfit
under the Housing Act, 1930, and the Minister of Health has agreed to
the granting of a subsidy for re-housing the tenants.
The difficulty of re-housing tenants on this site has delayed the work
on the project, which is most unfortunate as the new accommodation is
badly required.
Miss J. M. Cardozo, Chief Health Visitor, reports as follows:—
Home Visiting. (See Table, page 109.)
Owing to the re-housing now taking place in the Borough the visiting
in the affected areas has become very difficult. During the year about
350 children under five years of age came into the Borough, but the
transfers of only about one-thrid of these were notified to the Public
Health Department and in many instances they were received some weeks
after the families had actually moved into the new homes. This
necessitated the Health Visitor calling at each new flat to enquire if
there were any children under five years of age, and, if so, to obtain what
information she could as to date of birth, condition, etc.—a very lengthy
process.
The welfare of the "toddler," 2—5 years, is still one of our greatest
problems. A number of these children are not brought to the clinics at all
and some only at irregular intervals. Much valuable work can be done in
this connection by the well-trained health visitor when visiting the
home, as for example:—
(1) the early detection of physical defects which are still amenable
to treatment.
(2) instruction of mothers in the practical details of mothercraft—
(a) home management; (b) wise marketing; (c) good cooking.