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143
discharged, and reports on patients after their discharge were given to the hospitals
when they were asked for.
Close co-operation was maintained with the family doctor and regular meetings
with hospital almoners were held to improve co-ordination.
General
The following services show expansion :
Recuperative holidays by 23 per cent., viz. from 777 in 1951 to 951.
Home help service—the total number of households attended increased by 17 per
cent. compared with the corresponding figure for 1951.
Vaccinations of under one's—Compared with the total live births occurring during
1951 and 1952 the percentage of vaccinations of children under one year increased from
41 per cent. to 43 per cent.
Foot clinic—9 per cent. increase in attendances.
Housing—Reports on applicants for priority on medical grounds increased from
3,863 to 3,954.
Other services which need special mention are :
Care of mothers and young children—15 maternity and child welfare centres
(including branch clinics) were in full operation in the Division during the year. There
were 79,000 attendances and first attendances of infants under one year was 86 per
cent. of the total of live births. 263 women were referred for advice to the two family
planning clinics in the Division.
Day nurseries have been reduced by one because the site was required for housing
purposes. The number of priority cases awaiting admission on 31st December, 1952
was 328 compared with 146 twelve months ago. One of the three private day nurseries
registered under the Nurseries and Child-Minders Regulation Act closed during
November, 1952.
Vaccination
and
immunisation
A mobile clinic for diphtheria immunisation equipped with a loud speaker was
again in use during the summer months. In September an intensive effort was started to
strengthen the state of immunity amongst school children by increasing the numbers
of school sessions for administering reinforcing injections to children immunised in
infancy, and for immunising those who had not been protected in infancy. Based on
the population figures as at 30th June, 1951 it is estimated that at 31st December,
1952, 51 per cent. of children 0–4 years had been immunised against diphtheria. Only
two cases of diphtheria were confirmed during the year.
During the year, two vaccination sessions were combined with two immunisation
sessions with a consequential saving in man-power and sessional fees to medical officers.
Sessions for the re-vaccination of school children were started during the Christmas
holidays to save the children's school time. It is proposed to extend this service at all
holiday periods and on Saturday mornings.
School health
service
The special investigation clinic at Pentonville school treatment centre continued to
achieve encouraging results. Of 117 first attendances during the year, only two cases
(where parents were of low type and unco-operative) failed to respond to treatment.
The ear, nose and throat Clinic, although now operated by the Regional Hospital
Board, was still, for convenience, held at the Islington school treatment centre and the
majority of children was referred by school doctors. Discharging ears were quickly
cured, a large proportion resulting from nasal catarrh. The audiology clinic worked
very smoothly, partly due to the fact that the same specialist attended both this and the
ear, nose and throat Clinic at the same centre.
Twelve vision sessions a week were devoted to schoolchildren only at the Royal
London Ophthalmic Hospital (Moorfields) and two at the Westminster Hospital.
Tuberculosis
Early in 1952 accommodation at the East Islington welfare centre was made available
to the North West metropolitan regional hospital board for the establishment of a
static mass radiography unit. The advertising of the scheme, which aimed at securing
the X-ray of all the adult population in Islington, was assisted by the Council's divisional
organisation. The unit was used for the routine examination of the Council's divisional
staff.
K