View report page

The original six general medical practitioners continue to practise at the centre,
one of them being chairman of the centre's medical staff committee, which met at
regular intervals. Clinical meetings were held from time to time and were attended
by general practitioners in the area and medical officers employed in the Division.
The general dental service remained at the same level (11 sessions weekly), the
appointment of a second dental surgeon still being awaited.
Three successful blood donor sessions were held during the year and the branch
clinic of the Family Planning Association continued its weekly sessions.
Visitors to the centre numbered 1,686, of whom 402 came from overseas, some
forty countries being represented. Post-graduate or student doctors, nurses, health
visitors, midwives, social workers and others concerned with the health services accounted
for 1,090 of the total. One of the Study Groups attending the H.R.H. the Duke of
Edinburgh's Commonwealth Conference on Human Industrial Problems visited the
centre in july, 1956.
Preventive
mental
health
Weekly meetings of the medical director and staff of the child guidance unit, two
medical officers and four health visitors were held throughout the year to discuss not
only individual cases but also the broader aspects of positive mental health. Two mental
health seminars were held during the year and provided a further opportunity for
co-operation between the divisional nursing staff and the staff of the child guidance
unit at the centre.
Maternity
and child
welfare
There were 7,100 ante-natal and 362 post-natal attendances and 3,477 first attendances
of infants under one year of age (equal to 84 per cent. of children born during 1956) at
the Council's clinics.
Day nurseries
and childminders
The number of day nursery places in the Division remained at during the year.
Five private day nurseries provided accommodation for 175 children and four
statutorily registered child-minders cared for 17 children. In addition there were, at
the end of the year, 43 daily child-minders approved under the arrangements for
voluntary registration.
Health
education
Health education has been extended in accordance with a planned programme and a
committee of officers in the various grades concerned with these activities met in
alternate months to plan and co-ordinate the work and to suggest ways and means for
further development. Educational work in the welfare centres is continuing steadily as
the following figures show:
Sessions Attendances
1952 210 2,172
1953 288 5,421
1954 414 6,494
1955 564 5,775
1956 698 6,402
Recuperative
holidays
Holidays were provided for 815 patients comprising 70 children under school age,
379 school children, 14 nursing mothers and 352 other adults.
Home help
services
Help was given by this service up to the limit of available workers. Enorts to obtam
more home helps continued throughout the year and the organisers are continuously
faced with the problem of selecting the applicants in most urgent need of help and
spreading the help as widely as possible. There is a constant need for more workers
suitable and willing to attend tuberculous households. The service has grown as follows:
1952 1953 1954 1955 1956
Total cases given help 2,928 3,293 3,645 3,937 4,520
No. of home helps employed
at the end of year
time equivalent) 191 220 249 269 293
Problem
families and
help for
children
The divisional committee of statutory and voluntary workers concerned with the
special needs of problem families has continued to meet at intervals as necessary.
They considered 28 new cases and reviewed 44 cases. There were 220 cases on the
special register of existing and potential problem families in the division at the end of
the year.
139