Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wandsworth, Metropolitan Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
64 Report of the Medical Officer of Health for 1937.
administration of the Maternity and Child Welfare Committee,
the Council meeting the whole of the cost, and that the infant
sessions be conducted by the Council's medical staff. The
Clinic was designated the Wandsworth Clinic. The first session
was held on 1st September, 1937.
The other 11 Centres are still on a voluntary basis. Each
centre has a Medical Officer, appointed by the Centre Committee,
and three of them have Superintendents, who are also officers of
these Committees. The Council pay grants equivalent to 75 per
cent. of the approved expenditure of each of the Centres.
Valuable assistance at the Infant Clinics is rendered by a
number of ladies who give their services voluntarily. They keep
the Centre records and arrange for the purchase and sale of food,
drugs and clothing.
Several ladies have continued to act as voluntary workers at
the Municipal Clinic where they carry out the above duties, and there
is still ample scope for their services although they have been
relieved of the necessity of raising funds to meet part of the
expenditure of the Centre. The services of these ladies have been
invaluable and there has been the closest co-operation between
them and those members of the Council's staff who are working
at the Clinic.
A successful party for mothers was held at this Clinic on
25th November, 1937, when a number of them entered for competitions
in knitting garments and cake-making. The prizes for
the competitions, which were given by workers and others interested
in the Clinic and by the Wandsworth Gas Company, were
presented by Lady Robinson, President of the Wandsworth
Federation of Infant Welfare Centres.
Table XXX. gives the full details of the work carried out at
the 12 Infant Welfare Centres in the Borough. The statistics
shewn for the Wandsworth Clinic include those of the Fairfield
Centre before it was transferred to the Municipal Buildings.
3,091 new infants were examined during the year, and the
total attendances were 65,262.