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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welfare centres at hospitals (page 52), home visiting and after care for almoners
(page 54), selection of children for child guidance clinics (page 55), children neglected
or ill-treated in their own homes (page 55).
By arrangement with the Children's Officer I have continued responsibility for
duties in Part XIII of the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, as amended by Part V
of the Children Act, 1948. The visiting of foster-children and the inspection of the
premises in which the children are living have continued to be undertaken by health
visitors designated as " child protection officers." Towards the end of the year
618 foster-children were being supervised under these arrangements.
HOME NURSING
The home nursing service is provided on the Council's behalf by the voluntary
nursing associations in the county, the Central Council for District Nursing in London
acting as the liaison and advisory body.
Owing to the continued shortage of hospital beds for tuberculous persons and
for the aged and chronic sick, necessitating their being nursed at home, the service has
been subject to considerable pressure throughout the year. The district nurses made
1,291,887 visits in 1950 compared with 1,087,226 in 1949, and there were 7,318
patients still in nursing care at the end of the year.
An analysis of the completed treatments is given in Table 15 (page 147) but the principal details of the work done during 1950 were :—
| Mid-year population | Treatments | No. of treatments completed per 1,000 population | Total number of visits | Total visits per 1,000 population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced | Completed | ||||
| 3,389,620 | 44,431 | 43,048 | 12.7 | 1,291,887 | 381.1 |
The number of nurses employed at the end of the year was 281 full-time and 111
part-time, being a whole time equivalent of 340 nurses. This gave an average case
load per nurse at any one time of 21 patients and each nurse made an average of 14
visits per day.
The main conditions treated were :—
| Number | Per cent. of total | |
|---|---|---|
| Infectious and parasitic disease | 1,733 | 4.0 |
| Tuberculosis | 1,515 | 3.5 |
| Cancer (and other neoplasms) | 2,198 | 5.1 |
| Diabetes | 1,334 | 3.1 |
| Mental and other nervous diseases | 472 | 1.1 |
| Ear and eye and other sense organs | 2,347 | 5.5 |
| Cerebral lesions of vascular origin | 1,892 | 4.4 |
| Heart and arteries | 3,969 | 9.2 |
| Veins and other circulatory diseases | 525 | 1.2 |
| Respiratory diseases | 6,394 | 14.9 |
| Digestive diseases | 5,209 | 12.1 |
| Genito-urinary | 3,547 | 8.2 |
| Pregnancy | 699 | 1.6 |
| Skin | 3,912 | 9.1 |
| Bones and organs of movement (mainly | ||
| rheumatism) | 1,059 | 2.5 |
| Injuries | 1,197 | 2.8 |
| Other diseases or ill-defined | 5,046 | 11.7 |
| 43,048 | 100.0 |