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 1954
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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The gross cost of the various services in 1953-54—including central administrative charges but excluding debt charges—and the contributions recovered from recipients of the services were :
| Service | Cost £ | Amount recovered in charges £ |
|---|---|---|
| Ambulance service | 765,120 | - |
| Day nurseries | 902,697 | 188,315 |
| Domiciliary midwifery service | 169,691 | — |
| General health services (including ,£160,519 contribution to Metropolitan Borough Councils for salaries of sanitary officers) | 184,642 | - |
| Health centres | 14,927 | — |
| Health visiting | 298,287 | — |
| Maternity and child welfare | 557,632 | 42,893 |
| Mental health | 177,582 | - |
| Prevention of illness— Home nursing | 352,952 | - |
| Domestic help | 697,646 | 37,973 |
| Other preventive services | 448,648 | 24,218 |
| School health | 787,553 | 17,581 |
| £5,357,377 | £310,980 |
Maintenance
The net cost of the services after allowing for Government grant, expressed in terms of rate in the / was 10-17d., divided as follows :
| d. | |
|---|---|
| Ambulance service | 1.4 |
| Day nurseries | 1.32 |
| Domestic help service | 1.4 |
| Domiciliary midwifery service | .36 |
| General health services | .76 |
| Health visiting | .63 |
| Home nursing | .74 |
| Maternity and child welfare | 1.02 |
| Mental Health | .36 |
| Prevention of illness (care and after care; chest clinics, foot clinics, etc.) | .78 |
| Vaccination and Immunisation | .11 |
| School health | 1.29 |
| 10.17 |
VISITORS TO THE DEPARTMENT
numerous requests are received each year for programmes to be arranged for
visitors from home and abroad consisting of visits to the Woodberry Down Health
Centre, maternity and child welfare centres, day nurseries, school treatment centres,
occupation centres, etc., and talks by senior medical, nursing or administrative staff.
Apart from those visitors who went to Woodberry Down Health Centre only and
to which reference is made on page 134, there were 159 individual visitors from 51
overseas countries during 1954, the largest number being (in numerical order) from
India, Australia, France, U.S.S.R., Yugoslavia, Japan, New Zealand and U.S.A. In
addition, programmes were arranged for 130 visitors from Great Britain.
Facilities have continued to be given to groups of medical, nursing and social science
students from various training centres to undertake visits of observation and to be
given talks connected with the Council's services and, apart from visits by student
nurses from hospitals which are referred to below, students were received during the
year from the following colleges, etc.:—
124