London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Wandsworth 1971
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wandsworth, Metropolitan Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
71
An evening child health clinic was commenced at Tooting Child
Health Centre. This clinic offers similar facilities to the daytime
clinics and gives a service to those mothers unable to attend daytime
sessions by reason of domestic commitments or because they
are at work.
Much of the work of the health visitors is concerned with the
care of young children and, although the provision and responsibility
for the day care service has been passed to the Social Services
Department, this has not reduced the health visitors' involvement
and all health visitors have established close links with the social
workers involved in this work.
The number of first visits made during the year to children under five years of age was:—
| Children born in 1971 | 4,943 |
| Children born in 1970 | 3,820 |
| Children born in 1966/69 | 10,760 |
Total visits of all kinds paid by health visitors during the year:—
| Effective visits | 58,243 |
| Unsuccessful visits | 16.667 |
| Total visits to the elderly | 1,464 |
Domiciliary midwifery service
The decline in the number of home confinements has continued.
347 patients have been delivered by the domiciliary midwives, 87
of these confinements taking place in the General Practitioner
Obstetric Unit at the Weir Hospital.
The early discharge scheme has continued; all hospitals offering
maternity service to the residents of Wandsworth now use this
service and a total of 750 patients have been nursed in their own
homes following hospital confinements.
The Educational Supervisor of the Central Midwives Board
visited Wandsworth in July and reported that the standard of
teaching of pupil midwives and the domiciliary midwifery service
was satisfactory.
There has been close co-operation with St. George's Hospital,
Tooting, by the Wandsworth domiciliary midwives. In September,
it was arranged that a midwife should attend an ante-natal clinic
each week to be available for consultation with those patients
requesting discharge 48 hours after confinement. This close cooperation
between the two services ensures a full exchange of
information and a continuity of care for patients.
There are now five midwives attending general practitioner antenatal
clinics. The midwives assist in the examination and advising
of all patients attending these general practitioners for routine antenatal
care.