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57
Dental service
A dental service for expectant and nursing mothers and for
young children is provided in conjunction with the school dental
service at certain of the Council's dental surgeries. During the
year there were 60 attendances by mothers and 501 by children
under five years of age.
Family planning
Since the introduction of the Family Planning Act, 1967, we
have developed a scheme to ensure that all women in need of
advice on family planning can obtain it without difficulty. During
the past year there have been some changes in the scheme aimed
at developing the service to its full potential. New provisions were
made during 1968. and the extension of family planning through
the domiciliary service and by the establishment of new clinics
increased the cover of the the most vulnerable women in the population
; by this means we extended the service to the families who
needed it most of all. The service became fully comprehensive
towards the end of the year, reaching married and unmarried
women alike. This was achieved through maintaining close links
with other departments (such as Children's and Welfare) which
deal with social services in the Borough.
Continuous co-operation with general practitioners and hospital
consultants further helped to extend the service to all those who
needed it. We were able also to establish a liaison with the London
Borough of Merton and accept residents from their area for
treatment on a "knock-for knock" exchange basis.
The Family Planning Association continued to act as our agents,
and this has simplified the financial arrangements and minimised
the accounting and clerical work involved, payment being made to
the Association on the basis of approved net costs. Eight sessions
a week are held in our health clinics and four sessions a week are
held at local hospitals. In addition, there has been a comprehensive
and very successful domiciliary scheme.
There is no charge for consultation or medical supplies for cases
referred on medical grounds, and women referred on social grounds
have to pay only for supplies. Whenever there are difficult economic
circumstances, a simple assessment scale is used and free
supplies are given in case of need.
On the medical aspects of treatment, there is very close co-operation
between the general practitioner and the Family Planning
Association doctor, and where the family doctor prefers to advise
and treat his patient, she is referred back to him. In many cases,
general practitioners find it easier not to concern themselves with
economic matters and the medical follow-up of patients on contraceptives
; these cases are usually referred to the clinics by their own
doctors. The service is open to both married and unmarried
women over the age of 16 years.