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Psychiatric
Geriatric
Chest Physicians
Pathological
General Practitioners
Paediatric
Obstetric and Gynaecological
Venereal Disease Consultant Advisers
A further committee under my chairmanship, the Community Health Service
Liaison Committee of Southwark, is comprised of general practitioners and principal
officers of the Health Department, whose function is to assess the value of requests
from medical research groups and health surveys and is also concerned with other
health matters of a general nature affecting general practitioners and the community.
In addition to these committees' progress is being made towards attachment and
liaison of health visitors and home nurses with general practitioners. One full-time
attachment of a health visitor commenced at the end of the year with a group practice
of four doctors. Health visitors are also attached to three group practices to attend
"well-baby" clinics in the surgeries. Each health visitor makes follow-up visits to
those attending who live on her district, and acts as liaison officer between the family
doctor and the health visitor concerned with those who live outside her district, but
within the Borough boundaries. One of these group practices also has the services
of a home nurse to assist with the follow-up of patients. She attends morning and
evening surgeries.
The growth of interest in these schemes was evidenced by a request from the
Ministry of Health to complete a questionnaire designed to provide the Ministry
with information about the co-operation between family doctors and local health
authority nursing staff, excluding the domiciliary midwifery service.
Unfortunately, the shortage of qualified staff imposes a severe limitation on
the extension of these schemes. However, the Council hopes to increase the number
of nursing staff considerably over the next few years as part of its development
plan and this, especially if accompanied by an increase in the formation of group
practices, could ensure a point of equilibrium being reached at which the fullest
and closest co-operation between the Local Health Authority and General Practitioner
services can be reached.
Family Planning
The National Health Service (Family Planning) Act introduced during the year
1967, permits local health authorities to make arrangements for the giving
of advice on contraception, the medical examination of persons seeking advice
on contraception for the purposes of determining what advice to give, and the supply
of contraceptive substances and contraceptive appliances.
The Council directed that the provisions of the Act and subsequent Circular 15/67
be implemented as fully as possible and decided that the Family Planning Association
be asked to act as the Council's agent on the following basis:
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