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 1952
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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the provisions of the National Health Service Act, 1946. School children are medically
examined on return from the holiday.
Unaccompanied
children
The services of voluntary organisations such as the Invalid Children's Aid Association,
Women's Voluntary Services, Jewish Board of Guardians, Children's Country
Holiday Fund and the Wandsworth Peace Memorial, are used in providing recuperative
holidays for unaccompanied children.
Special arrangements were made during 1952 to send a limited number of educationally
sub-normal children for recuperative holidays and additional facilities were
obtained for recuperative holidays for physically handicapped children.
Expectant
and nursing
mothers,
accompanied
young
children and
other adults
The majority of adults, expectant and nursing mothers and accompanied young
children are placed in recuperative holiday homes direct by the Council but the Family
Welfare Association is used as a placing agent in a few especially difficult cases. The
services of the St. Henry Convalescent Fund were also used in 1952 for the provision of
recuperative holidays for a small number of adults and accompanied children living in
the City of Westminster. The Spero Fund for the Welfare of Tuberculous Workers
co-operates with the Council in the placing of tuberculous persons in recuperative
holiday homes.
Statistics
The number of recuperative holidays since 1948 is shown in the following table, from which the marked drop in the number of holidays provided for children under five years of age in 1952 emerges significantly as a hopeful pointer to the improvement in the health of the children in this age group, and to the general reluctance of medical practitioners to send young children, especially those under two years of age, on recuperative holidays apart from their mothers.
| Year | Unaccompanied children | Expectant and nursing mothers and accompanied young children | Other adults | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5 years | School children | Mothers | Children | |||
| 1948 (6 months) | 637 | 1,098 | 128 | 148 | 754 | 2,765 |
| 1949 | 1,517 | 3,121 | 379 | 671 | 2,779 | 8,467 |
| 1950 | 1,548 | 4,255 | 340 | 566 | 3,439 | 10,148 |
| 1951 | 1,309 | 3,501 | 219 | 386 | 3,154 | 8,569 |
| 1952 | 686 | 3,507 | 190 | 352 | 3,308 | 8,043 |
Health education
As part of its proposals under section 28 of the National Health Service Act, 1946, for
the prevention of illness, the Council decided to develop, as opportunity should permit,
a comprehensive educational programme in physical and mental health, and for this
purpose to seek the co-operation of the metropolitan borough councils and to utilise
the services and material available from the Central Council tor Health Education and
other appropriate bodies. During 1952 a senior medical officer of the Council reviewed
the existing arrangements for health education in the county. Concurrently, two public
health departmental working parties studied (i) educational activities in maternity and
child welfare centres, and (ii) the prevention of accidents in the home. Comments on
the three subjects follow.
Health
education
review
The review confirmed the general impression that since July, 1948, the metropolitan
borough councils have tended to concentrate on propaganda for those services remaining
under their control, while the County Council has concentrated on 'personal' health
services. The subjects covered by the boroughs include clean food and food handling,
infectious diseases, pests and flies. The devices adopted to encourage health education
are: Lectures, exhibitions, public meetings, films, campaigns, posters, pamphlets and
show-cases. There is a general concensus of opinion that while lectures to large audiences