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70
Residential
establishments
for
children
outside
London

Fees to
general
practitioners
The Brighton smallpox epidemic in January, 1951, resulted in a greatly increased
number of vaccinations taking place not only in that area but also in London, where,
in addition to a steady stream of adults and children presenting themselves for
vaccination in the clinics, many of the hospitals vaccinated patients and members
of the staff. An interesting outcome of the increased number of record cards received
was the realisation that in times of epidemic a small authority might well be faced
with a substantial bill in respect of 5s. record fees, many of which might relate to the
vaccination of persons normally resident in other areas. This led in turn to consideration
of the whole basis of payment for records by local health authorities, as a result
of which discussions have been held with the County Councils Association and the
Association of Municipal Corporations as a preliminary to further discussions with
the Ministry of Health.
Publicity
A note on the publicity undertaken to encourage parents to have their children
immunised and vaccinated will be found on page 81.
LONDON AMBULANCE SERVICE
This Service operates under the immediate supervision of Mr. A. G. Hellman,
O.B.E., the Officer-in-Charge.
Increase in
demand
As will be seen from the statistics on page 74, there was, during 1951, a further
substantial increase in the demand for ambulance transport, the number of patients
conveyed by the General Section of the Service rising to 550,621, against 480,048 in
1950, an increase of over 70,000 or nearly 15 per cent. Relatively, however, the increase
in the number of journeys and the mileage—20,000 and 50,000, respectively—was
not nearly so great, a fact which reflects the success of the efforts made, by decentralisation
and other arrangements referred to below, to increase the efficiency of the
Service and to make the most economic use possible of available resources.
The upward trend of the number of calls on the Accident Section of the Service
continued, also, the 1950 "record" of 83,791 calls being exceeded by more than 3,000.
Decentralisation
Reference was made in the reports for 1949 and 1950 to the substantial economies
which had been affected by the "decentralisation" of the ambulance transport
arrangements at a number of hospitals, i.e., by arranging for one or more ambulances,
according to need, to be stationed at the hospitals during the day for the purpose of
conveying local out-patients to and from the hospital at the direct order of a transport
officer appointed by the hospital to co-ordinate ambulance orders from the various
departments. These arrangements were extended during 1951 and they are now in
operation at 32 hospitals and clinics throughout the County.