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48
It will riot be possible to commence building the Health Centre until towards the final phase of the
whole redevelopment scheme (1972/73) and plans are therefore being put in hand to make earlier
temporary surgery accommodation available to those general practitioners who have expressed their
firm intention to practise from the Health Centre when built. The temporary accommodation will
comprise newly built flats suitably adapted, and this interim arrangement will afford the new residents
within the development a conveniently available general practitioner service from the outset,
pending the permanent service that will be provided from the Health Centre.
QUEENS PARK MATERNAL AND CHILD WELFARE CENTRE
LANCEFIELD STREET, W.10.
Temporary replacement by prefabricated building
On 23rd September 1968 the former Health Committee approved in principle the replacement of
the Maternal and Child Welfare Centre at 66 Lancefield Street, W.10 which is included in an 'A' area
of the North Westminster project, and forms part of Herries Street North area which is scheduled
for redevelopment in 1971.
The proposed site for the new health centre (in the Harrow Road Centre area) will not be available
for some time; the present building is required for demolition in 1970, and therefore to preserve
continuity of service the Social Services Committee in December 1969 approved the provision of a
temporary maternal and child welfare centre on a site at Lancefield Street, W10., which is adjacent
to and to the north of St. Judes Hostel.
It is anticipated that the new clinic will be in operation by the Autumn of 1970.
MOBILE HEALTH CLINIC
The ten maternal and child welfare centres in Westminster provide adequate coverage for
most of the City. There are, however, two areas which are not adequately served—a small area
immediately behind the Albert Hall and the Covent Garden/Drury Lane area. So far as the Albert Hall
area and parts south of Kensington Road and Knightsbridge are concerned, residents from this
portion of Westminster who wish to make use of the local authority health services are required to
travel to the centre at No. 1 Ebury Bridge Road, S.W.1., which is nearly two miles distant and is a
difficult journey involving two buses. Alternatively, some mothers from the area make use of services
provided by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, but the nearest clinic near Kensington
High Street is also over one mile away.
In regard to the Covent Garden/Drury Lane area, persons wishing to use the City Council's health
services are required to go to the maternal and child welfare centre in Marshall Street or to the
Middlesex Hospital where a weekly session is held; in both cases busy traffic routes have to be
traversed. Some mothers cross the boundary and make use of the services in the London Borough of
Camden.
In order therefore, to improve the amenities of the City Council's maternal and child welfare
services, the Social Services Committee in December 1969 approved the purchase of a mobile health
clinic. Apart from covering the aforementioned inadequacies the use of such a clinic will permit the
closure of two part time clinics in not completely satisfactory premises in the north-western part of
the City and will also enable chiropody, cervical cytology and other screening services to expand.
Mobile clinics have been brought into use with considerable success in three London Boroughs,
viz., Southwark, Ealing and Hillingdon. The City Council has approved expenditure for such a project
in the financial year commencing 1st April 1970, and I hope in my next report to be able to describe
the early days of operation of this venture in Westminster.
HOME HELP SERVICE
The City Council, under Section 29 of the National Health Service Act 1946, provides a comprehensive
home help service for those who require assistance by reason of infirmity, ill health or age.
An hourly charge is made which is abatable in necessitous cases; the service is free to those receiving
supplementary benefit.
A home help's duties are many and varied and although they include some cleaning work, much of
their time, especially when serving the aged and infirm, is spent on more personal attention for
their clients. The tasks they undertake include collecting pensions, shopping and preparing simple
meals, laundry work and so on. For some clients who because of a crippling condition are confined