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52
There are special units for handicapped children in three of the nurseries providing a total of
24 places and extra staff are specially trained for this work.
The staffing of the day nurseries continues to present serious difficulties. Although as mentioned
earlier five of the nurseries are approved by the Ministry of Health for the training of nursery nurses,
owing to the many less arduous and better paid opportunities, often outside the expensive central
area of London, which are available to these trainees few remain in the Council's service after the
end of their training period.
Nurseries and Child Minders
There are 23 private day nurseries in the City providing 630 places and these are regularly visited
and supervised by the City Council's medical officers. Most of these private nurseries, however,
provide only part-time care at morning or afternoon sessions and do not fulfil the need of the
mother who wishes to find full-time day care for her child.
Supervision of child minders is carried out by health visitors, who offer advice on diet, care, and
play equipment to the child minder. They visit child minders who care for two or more children,
and give as much support and help as they do in the child's own home.
Because of the pattern of the work carried out, the health visitors become aware of illegal childminding
and report the facts to the Medical Officer of Health. This continues to be a serious
problem in the City, and is a constant source of worry to them, because of the inadequacies in the
quality of care offered by such child minders. Proceedings were taken during 1968 against two
women in respect of illegal child minding (see Table 29, page 92).
Twenty women are registered under the Nurseries and Child Minders Regulation Act 1948
to mind a total of 90 children. These women are visited regularly by a senior nursing officer and
health visitor to advise in regard to the general care of the children, meals and play activity.
Thirty-two women each minding no more than two children are voluntarily registered with the
City Council and supervised by health visitors.
Playgroups
Medical Officers and health visitors supervise private play groups, of which there are nine in
Westminster, with provision for 200 children between the ages of two and five years. There are
also 29 playgroup or occasional creche sessions held each week in the City Council's child welfare
clinics.
New Government legislation under the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968, has
amended the Nurseries and Child Minders Regulation Act 1948, to enable local authorities to improve
and maintain a higher standard in the existing private nursery and child minder service. In addition
to the child minders minding more than two children already registered with the City Council,
under the amending Act anyone minding one child or more in her own home for reward will need
to apply for registration and will be supervised by the City Council's officers. In December, 1968,
a comprehensive report on the new legislation and its effect on the Department's work was
presented to the Health Committee, and new administrative procedures to meet the anticipated
considerable increase in work in the future have been formulated, including the provision of
additional staff.
VACCINATION AND IMMUNISATION
Vaccination and immunisation is provided for all children under school leaving age either at the
child welfare clinics, in schools or by family doctors.
Parents are continually reminded of the importance of having their children immunised, but in
spite of increasing efforts on the part of health visitors there was no increase in the number of
children who completed immunisation at the welfare centres in 1968.
Smallpox vaccination
In accordance with instructions issued by the Ministry of Health in June 1967, that the issue
of smallpox lymph was to be the responsibility of the Boroughs, this service has been carried out
and approximately 16,000 doses have been issued to doctors, hospitals and welfare centres.
Emergency supplies of lymph are kept at Middlesex, St. Mary's (Harrow Road) and Westminster
Hospitals, where they can be obtained by local medical practitioners at weekends or Bank Holidays.
The Health Department Duty Officer at City Hall can also issue lymph if the need arises outside
normal office hours.