London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1950
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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| Number of ordinary sessions | 4,982† | 2,682 | 2,238 |
| Number of general anaesthetic sessions | 288 † | 364 | 368 |
| Number of appointments offered | * | 31,338 | 26,308 |
| Failed to attend | * | 6,477 | 5,876 |
| Attendances—By appointment | 36,710 | 24,861 | 20,432 |
| Other | 5,392 | 3,891 | |
| Examinations | • | 12,057 | 8,579 |
| Treated—first treatment | 10,959 | 7,032 | 5,116 |
| others | * | 13,447 | 11,851 |
| Silver nitrate treatment | 416 | 2,938 | 2,180 |
| Scalings | 1,324 | 1,364 | 859 |
| Prolonged gum treatment | 135 | 212 | 210 |
| Fillings | 8,549 | 8,564 | 8,255 |
| Inlays | * | 23 | 22 |
| Crowns | 1 | 5 | 11 |
| Number of teeth conserved | * | 7,988 | 7,841 |
| Extractions | 17,255 | 16,560 | 11,257 |
| Dressings | 598 | 2,236 | 2,077 |
| Anaesthetics—local | 349 | 1,784 | 1,457 |
| general. | 3,645 | 4,563 | 3,372 |
| Number of patients prepared for dentures | * | 3,359 | 2,518 |
| Number of patients supplied with dentures | 960 | 918 | |
| Dentures supplied—new full | 2,176 | 652 | 655 |
| new partial | 795 | 782 | |
| Remakes | 8 | 7 | 19 |
| Repairs | 235 | 126 | 84 |
| Number of patients X-rayed | * | 56 | 23 |
| Number made dentally fit | * | 5,283 | 5,057 |
† Includes sessions at which attendances, not included in the analysis, were made by other than
maternity and child welfare patients.
*Not available; mainly because of variations in record keeping by the metropolitan borough council
dental clinics prior to July, 1948.
Throughout the year efforts were continued to find a solution to halt the steady
deterioration of the Council's dental services. It is most disappointing that no real
solution has been found.
STAFF
Salaries and
wages—
Whitley
Council and
other national
awards
Revised rates of pay and conditions of service tor a number ot grades of statt in
local authorities' health services were announced by the Whitley Councils for the
Health Services (Great Britain) and implemented by the Council during 1950. The
grades of staff affected in the public health department were (1) health visitors, tuberculosis
visitors, school nursing sisters and domiciliary midwives and (2) dental
technicians.
The majority of manual workers in the department also received increases in pay
following the publication of an agreement by the National Joint Council for Local
Authorities' Services (Manual Workers).
Nursing staff
at residential
establishments
The application by the Council to nurses at welfare institutions of the revised
scales of pay for hospital nurses, as recommended by the Nurses' and Midwives'
Whitley Council in 1949, and mentioned in my report for last year, led to a marked
improvement in the recruitment of ward sisters for welfare establishments and there
are now few vacancies. It remained difficult, however, to recruit other grades of
nurses for these establishments presumably because the work is not so attractive as
nursing in hospitals. There was also an acute shortage of nurses at residential
nurseries. At both types of establishments it was occasionally necessary at times to
engage nurses through nursing co-operations.
The shortage of residential school nurses also remained acute and to maintain
the service a number of non-resident school nursing sisters and health visitors were
asked to take a turn of duty at residential schools.
I