View report page

58
Contact tracing in the London area—184 notifications were received during the year from
American Service bases in and around London, from the Ministry of Health for contacts notified
from abroad, and from other local authorities. One hundred and twenty-four contacts were traced
(67% against 60% for 1966) and brought to treatment, due to the astute and active work of the
City Council's social workers attached to the venereal diseases clinics in Westminster.
Notices—As an experiment during the year, fablon notices giving the Public Enquiry Telephone
number for Venereal Diseases referred to above, and other brief details, were affixed to the inside
face of doors of all water closets in the City Council's public conveniences. This innovation which
was intended to be of added service to the public was unfortunately abused and the matter will be
further considered in 1968.
Closure of clinic—The clinic for men at St. Paul's Hospital, Endell Street, W.C.1, closed in
July, 1967.
(See Table 48, page 89.)
HEALTH EDUCATION
Health Education continues to be carried on actively in the City of Westminster where over 200
films were screened by the Health Department staff during the year. Apart from the 11 City Council
maternal and child welfare centres, films were also screened in schools, day and other hospitals,
the day centre for the mentally ill, and in the City Hall.
One main project in health education in 1967 was the Mental Health Exhibition which was held
at St. Marylebone Town Hall from 5th to 9th June, 1967. The National Association for Mental
Health, National Society for Mentally Handicapped Children together with 8 Psychiatric Hospitals,
the Office of Health Economics and John Healey Productions all contributed in making the
Exhibition a success. Approximately 1,000 persons attended and a detailed report is included in the
Mental Health Section of this report.
Representatives of the City Council attended the Greater London Council Home Safety Conference
at Chiswick in September and the National Home Safety Conference at Friends Meeting House,
W.C.1 in October. The City Council participated actively in the Greater London Council Home
Safety Competition which was held in November and a large number of entries were received from
schools in Westminster and from individual adult inhabitants of the area.
Talks illustrated by films, filmstrips, posters, leaflets and other visual aids were given by the
health education staff in the Department including medical officers, health visitors, social workers,
and the health education assistant, to Colleges of Further Education, schools, local groups and
students from Teacher Training Colleges on the following topics:
Home Safety
Health for Students
Nutrition
Anatomy
B.C.G. vaccination
Venereal Diseases
Smoking and Health
General Hygiene
A new film on Child Development "Testing the Very Young" was screened in the City Hall on
two consecutive days for the benefit of medical officers, general practitioners, social workers,
nursing staff, and professional officers from the Children's and Welfare Departments. One hundred
and forty-one persons saw the film which was shown in conjunction with a display of testing
equipment depicted in the film.
NURSING HOMES
It is the responsibility of the Health Department under Part VI of the Public Health Act, 1936 to
register and supervise at regular intervals all nursing homes in the area. There are eight nursing
homes registered in the City of Westminster. All the homes take medical patients; five take surgical
patients, three take maternity patients and one is also registered under Part III of the Mental Health
Act, 1959 to take patients suffering from mental illness. Two of the homes are non-profit making.
No new nursing homes were registered during 1967.