View report page

In July, 1954, the Ministry of Health notified the Council that, in view of adequate
resources of properly prescribed and supervised physiotherapy at local hospitals, there
were no longer grounds for continuing the service but an extension was obtained
while further negotiations took place. In the outcome, however, the Council had no
alternative but to close the premises after 30th June, 1955, to patients over school age
referred by general practitioners.
Co-operation
with hospitals
—Discharge
reports
During the year efforts have been made to ensure that when a patient who was
likely to need the Council's health or other services was discharged from hospital, all
necessary information was given by the hospital authorities to the divisional medical
officer, including a report on the patient's condition on discharge.
Mental
health
education in
the maternity
and child
welfare
service
During the year progress was made in giving effect to the main recommendations
of the study group set up by the Council, whose report appeared in Appendix B of the
report for 1954. With the co-operation of hospital authorities intensive training of a
number of the Council's medical officers and health visitors was started in six of the
nine health divisions through case conferences attended by the psychiatrist and psychiatric
social worker from the local child guidance clinic. In addition, group discussions
were started, led by the staff of the child guidance clinics, which aimed at the orientation
of all available divisional professional staff towards the development of mental health
education in the maternity and child welfare service. A departmental committee on
mental health education was set up in April to advise on general developments in this
field, including divisional training arrangements. Plans for the general scheme of
intensive training depend considerably on the progress of the groups so far established
and the work of the advisory committee during the year included a meeting with
members of one of the divisional training groups, when the group's activities and
experiences were discussed.
Problem
families and
children
neglected and
ill-treated
in their
own homes
Reference is made in the section dealing with the mental health services (page 100)
to the provision of special child welfare services for backward children.
A comprehensive enquiry was begun to ascertain the numbers of potential and hardcore
problem families in London, the factors giving rise to problem families and the
methods by which preventive work should be developed and the amount of time at
present spent by health visitors on these families and an assessment of the time required
to give effective assistance. The results of this enquiry will be available in 1956 and it
is anticipated that the survey will point to ways in which additional effort can be concentrated
on this difficult problem.
Drugs, medicaments, welfare foods, etc.
The Council, in company with other local health authorities, took over in the middle
of 1954 the local distribution of welfare foods, i.e., national dried milk, orange juice,
cod liver oil compound and vitamin A and D tablets, provided by the Ministry of Food.
During 1955 the process in London of integrating this task with the maternity and
child welfare service as a whole was materially advanced without inconvenience to
the public. An average of 929 sessions a week were provided at 196 distributing points.
Help continued to be given by the Women's Voluntary Services. At the request of the
Ministry of Health, local health authorities conducted a special enquiry into the reasons
for the falling off in the consumption, since 1st July, 1954, of all classes of welfare foods.