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118
REPORTS BY THE DIVISIONAL MEDICAL OFFICERS
Division 1, comprising the boroughs of Chelsea, Fulham, Hammersmith and
Kensington.
Dr. Violet Russell reports:—
General
There was no significant change in the volume of the divisional health services
generally during the year, apart from a further expansion of the domestic help service.
This expansion taken in conjunction with a decrease in the estimated population
and a further steady decline in the birth rate has made it possible to meet more fully
the demand for this facility.
A particularly satisfactory tendency is the increasing co-ordination and cooperation
between the services under different sections of the National Health Service
Act, bringing the work nearer to the ideal of an integrated whole. Most noteworthy
in this connection has been the successful linking-up between hospital almoners,
health visitors and care committee workers in order to avoid overlapping and unnecessary
visits in the home. This new scheme has worked smoothly and well.
The liaison between doctors in the teaching hospitals and those in the Council's
welfare centres is encouraged and medical students now attend at three welfare
centres in the division. This should help to awaken the interest of young doctors in
social medicine as well as assisting to produce an integrated service.
Day
nurseries
The number of children on the priority waiting lists has greatly declined and there
is now no appreciable delay when it is wished to admit a child to a nursery at short
notice. This is partly due to a stricter definition of priority having been adopted
but the position has also been helped by a reorganisation of the age-groups in the
day nurseries and also by the reopening of Eridge House Nursery which had been
closed for repairs.
Divisional
Home
Nursing
Committee
This committee has met regularly and has discussed a large variety of subjects
of interest to nursing. The value of these meetings between the representatives of
the four district nursing associations and the voluntary organisations, doctors and
almoners who come into contact and assist the nursing service has made itself manifest.
The evolution of an active and co-ordinated committee from the various elements of
which it was composed in 1948 has been most striking and is evidence of the value
of the committee system under an efficient chairman in integrating the work of
different authorities.
Divisional
Tuberculosis
Care
Committee
School
Health
Service
The second meeting of this committee was held in June when the annual reports
of the four local care committees were received.
There has been a notable increase in the number of sessions provided for visiontesting
; an expansion of the nutrition work was also necessary. Concentrated work
on tonsillectomy cases in St. Charles' Hospital did much to relieve the waiting list.
The audiometric testing of school children's hearing was inaugurated in the division
and an audiology session once a month was started for the investigation of those
whose hearing was found to be defective.
The Council was asked to take over administrative control of this centre,
formerly conducted by the Hammersmith District Nursing Association, and it now
forms a normal unit in the divisional school health service.
Care
of the
aged
Home
Help
Service
Co-operation is maintained with the Old People's Welfare Committees which
exist in each borough of the division.
The expansion of the home help service, which had made steady progress during
1950, continued during 1951. Service varying from a few hours a week to full-time
was supplied to an average of over 1,500 households throughout the year.
ChilitMinder
Service
In addition to the day nurseries, which provide for the daily care of 834 children,
a well-developed service of child-minders, registered under the Council's scheme,
has been maintained ; an average of over 200 children under 5, most of whom were
ineligible for admission to a day nursery, have been provided for in this way.