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Health Department,
Municipal Offices,
Castle House,
2 Walworth Road,
S.E.1.
To The Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors,
London Borough of Southwark.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour of presenting my Annual Report on the health services of the
London Borough of Southwark for the year 1968.
During 1968, despite the application of financial stringency in many directions,
the local authority health services continued to develop.
In my report for 1967 I mentioned that authority had been obtained for me to
carry out a pilot health survey of the general public by means of a medical examination
and a series of tests by using a mobile health clinic. Delivery of the mobile unit was made
in November 1968 and to my knowledge is the first of its kind in the country. This is an
area of preventive medicine which has perhaps not received the amount of attention it
deserves, and in my next year's report I hope to give details of the year's findings.
The Health Services and Public Health Act, 1968 was passed during the year
amending several of the services covered under various statutes including the National
Health Service Act, the Public Health Act and the Nurseries and Child Minders Regulations.
Agreement was also reached during the year with the South East Branch of the
Family Planning Association on the terms of transfer of the family planning services, and
it is expected that the Council will assume control of some of the family planning
clinics during 1969.
An additional responsibility placed upon the local authority during the year to
make arrangements for adaptations, etc. in the homes of patients to facilitate the installation
of artificial kidney machines, and by the end of the year one such adaptation
had been carried out in the home of a patient living in Southwark.
The year saw continued close co-operation with the hospitals in the Borough especially
with the Newcomen Clinic for assessment of handicapped children at Guy's
Hospital, where a medical officer from the Borough is seconded for liaison purposes.
In March Mr. T.A.C. Maxwell, Chief Administrative Officer in the Department,
retired and I would like to place on record the appreciation of all his colleagues in the
Department for the unfailing manner in which he devoted himself to his duties since the
amalgamation of the Boroughs in 1965.
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