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Among the new activities undertaken have been the sale of government welfare
foods at child welfare clinics, B.C.G. and polio vaccination, the detection of signs of
mental ill-health and physical disabilities in very young children and priority dental
services. Progress has been made towards the integration of the health visiting and
school nursing services and, whereas in the early days the staff in these grades were
divided almost equally into two self-contained groups, now, half of the full-time staff are
doing combined duties.
There have been several well-marked trends since 1948. A fall in attendances at
ante-natal and child welfare sessions reflects the fall in the birth-rate, but may also owe
something to the increased activity of family doctors, especially during the latter part
of the period, when the birth rate has somewhat rallied. In school treatment centres,
although the number of new cases at vision sessions has grown by over a thousand,
the number of attendances has dropped: this may be due to the use of hyoscine for the
refraction of older pupils which reduces the number of attendances per child. At bathing
centres the sharp fall in attendances is attributable to higher standards of cleanliness
and improved cleansing methods. There has been an appreciable decline in cases and
attendances at minor ailment centres, but the special investigation of pupils referred from
school medical inspections has grown considerably. The most noticeable fall has been
in cases and attendances at rheumatism supervisory clinics; and, although this may
be partly offset by a diversion of cases to special investigation clinics or to hospital
departments, it undoubtedly reflects a decrease in the overall number of cases, which
in turn may be associated with the greatly increased use of ear, nose and throat sessions
over the same period.
A well-defined pattern of co-operation has evolved with other branches of the
National Health Services, with other local authority services and public bodies. These
efforts have been made to meet the needs of special classes in the community, in the
care of expectant mothers, of problem families and maladjusted children, of old persons,
in the prevention and control of infectious disease, and in health education and the
avoidance of accidents.
DIVISION 8, comprising the boroughs of Bermondsey, Lambeth and
Southwark.
Dr. W. H. S. Wallace reports:
Maternity and
child welfare
The work of the clinics has been well maintained. Attendances have been slightly
more than in previous years as a result of the higher birth rate and the number of
immigrants who have come from overseas, chiefly to the Brixton area of the division.
Increased births have led to an increased demand for beds for hospital confinement,
which has not been satisfactorily met. Many women whose homes have been unsuitable
for confinement have had difficulty in booking a hospital bed in advance and arrangements
for admission have had to be made through the Emergency Bed Service.
Prophylaxis
The work of inoculation of children against diseases from which protection can
now be offered has been increasing.