London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Hornsey 1956
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hornsey, Borough of]
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PREVENTION OF ILLNESS,
CARE AND AFTER CARE
Section 28
Recuperative Holidays
The Area health staff continued to be responsible for dealing with
applications for recuperative holidays and during 1956 210 applications
were received compared with 235 the previous year. Of these, 178 were
approved.
DOMESTIC HELP SERVICE
Section 29
The total number of cases provided with home help during the year
was 1,781. This figure shows no sign of declining and has in fact risen
by over 500 in the past four years. As stated last year the bulk of the
cases comprise the chronic sick, including aged and infirm, who need
more or less permanent help, and the demands on the organisation can
be readily appreciated when it is realised that nearly 1,000 patients now
require help week by week.
The following table shows details of the cases served during the year:—
| Cases provided with help | No. of new cases provided with help | No. of old cases for which help was continued from 1965 | Total No. of cases provided with help during year | Total No. of cases still being provided with help at end of year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maternity (including expectant mothers) | 128 | 8 | 136 | 14 |
| Tuberculosis | 36 | 38 | 74 | 40 |
| Chronio Sick (including aged and infirm) | 585 | 828 | 1,413 | 910 |
| Others | 138 | 20 | 158 | 14 |
| Totals | 887 | 894 | 1,781 | 978 |
Night Service
The service was extended during the year by the introduction of a
night service scheme intended to provide help for patients who are very
ill or dying and who need night attention, and so enable relatives or
others who normally provide this assistance to get a certain amount of
relief. The scheme came into operation in June 1956 and details were
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