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114
V—The National Health Service
Except that it became a free service, the domiciliary midwifery service was not
fundamentally affected by the National Health Service Act, 1946. The main result
of the Act is the closer integration of the domiciliary midwifery service with the
maternity and child welfare services now provided by the Council as local health
authority. It is administered centrally and not through the health divisions.
The midwife is able, by making one telephone call, to obtain a bed in a hospital
through the Emergency Bed Service and for a patient to be taken there by the
London Ambulance Service with the minimum delay. She knows the general
practitioner obstetricians selected under the Act to provide maternity medical
services as family doctors and co-operates with them in providing the services,
including emergency medical aid required by the mother or baby. Under the
Council's scheme the whole County is kept under close and constant supervision and
the service is being continually adapted to the changing character and requirements
of the area and the midwives kept up-to-date in the latest obstetrical methods.