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The doctor's afternoon consultations at the Welfare Centres
are taken as follows:—
Barton House Central Division Monday
Barton House Northern Division Friday
Milton Road Southern Division Thursday
The present facilities regarding welfare supervision have
approached the "saturation point," so far as the existing staff
can be expected to deal with ever increasing duties and responsibilities,
and the growth of the clinical work in connection with the
Maternity and Child Welfare scheme has assumed such proportions
as to necessitate the services of a full-time Medical Officer, to
allow for further expansion of the scheme, to obviate unnecessary
overcrowding and prolonged waiting of mothers at the Centres,
and to afford encouragement to new mothers to utilise the
facilities offered.
In this connection, attention is drawn to the fact that Stoke
Newington is the only borough in the Metropolis which has no
Assistant Medical Officer to carry out the clinical duties at the
Welfare Centres.
It is suggested, therefore, that the first step to be taken to cope
with the increased work is the appointment of a full-time Assistant
Medical Officer to be responsible for the duties in connection with
the Council's Welfare scheme. Such Medical Officer would be
able to take over the Ante-natal work in place of the present
part-time Ante-natal Officer, whose fees for two sessions per week
amount to £165 7s. 6d. per annum. In addition, this Officer
would deputise for the Medical Officer of Health during his annual
holiday, thus saving an annual fee of £52 10s.
An Assistant Medical Officer (Maternity and Child Welfare) is
generally responsible for the following duties:—
1. Attendance at children's consultations.
In this Borough the number of doctor's consultations should
be increased to two sessions for each of the three divisions. That
is, 6 doctor's sessions per week, instead of the three sessions
operated at present.
2. Attendance at Ante-natal Clinics.
These Clinics, at present held twice weekly, may require to
be increased by the addition of another session later, in view of
the fact that domiciliary midwifery will become more popular by
reason of the powers granted by the Midwives Act, 1936.
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