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establishment, has proved satisfactory but there is a shortage of suitable accommodation
and search continues to be made for homes offering facilities of the standard required.
In most cases all the arrangements for recuperative holidays were made directly
by the Council but the services of the Jewish Board of Guardians, the Wandsworth
Peace Memorial and the St. Henry Convalescent Fund were also used and considerable
assistance was received from the National Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis
(Spero Fund) in respect of tuberculous persons.
Venereal
disease
Venereal disease
A summary of the work done in 1955 at the London V.D. out-patient clinics will
be found in Table 12, page 189. Approximately 77 per cent, of the patient swere resident
in the County of London and a large number of persons who were found not to be
suffering from venereal disease attended the clinics.

The Council's male and female welfare officers continued to undertake the tracing
of contacts of patients, details of whom had been provided by hospitals, by medical
services of the British, Commonwealth and United States Armed Forces, and by local
health authorities. Information of 418 contacts was received but in 338 instances there
was insufficient information for following-up. Of the remaining 80 cases 40 were
traced of whom 30 were successfully brought to treatment. The welfare officers were
also available to assist chnics in case of difficulty in following-up patients who defaulted.
The arrangements whereby the services of a full-time welfare officer are made
available for attendance at chnics at Holloway Prison and for following-up contacts
and prisoners on discharge, were continued during the year.
Health education
Health education activities following the comprehensive review of this field, (Annual
Report, 1952) continued to expand in 1955. Health visitors whether in the home or at
the infant welfare centre were the principal contact with the public and lost no opportunity
of furthering the cause of good health. In this they were helped very greatly
by the medical staff whose opportunities of direct contact are, however, fewer. Evening
public lectures by medical and nursing staff on health topics also continued to be
given.
The panel of senior medical, nursing and administrative officers formed to advise
generally on health education activities considered a wide range of related problems
and possibilities, and amongst the decisions implemented was the production of a
series of slides relating to B.C.G. vaccination; the purchase of two tape recording
machines for group instruction at welfare centres; the holding of a competition open
to all of the Council's staff for the design and execution of visual aids for health education,
and the approval of a range of demonstration material for use at infant welfare
centres.
Visual aids
Greater use than ever was made of the department s library or films and film-strips,
as well as of the films available on hire from other sources.
Posters and leaflets on a wide range of health educational subjects were again displayed
and distributed widely at the discretion of Divisional Medical Officers, who are
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