London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1959
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
This page requires JavaScript
The following statement shows the number of staff employed in the Public Health Department at the end of the year (part-time staff are expressed as whole-time equivalents). (The principal officers of the department are shown in Appendix D.)
| Types of staff | Location | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head office | Divisions | Other establishments (a) | ||
| Administrative and clerical (including ambulance control clerks) | 216 | 629 | 75 | 920 |
| Medical officers (b) | 32 | 159 | 191 | |
| Dental officers (b) | 2 | 71 | 73 | |
| Scientific branch staff | 31 | — | 14 | 45 |
| Inspectors | 14 | —— | — | 14 |
| Nursing staff | 10 | 1,808 | 195 | 2,013 |
| Medical auxiliaries (c) | 28 | 148 | 21 | 197 |
| Social worker grades (including mental health); home help organising staff; wardens | 33 | 183 | 144 | 360 |
| Ambulance service operational staff | 3 | — | 811 | 814 |
| Manual workers, home helps, domestic grades, etc. | 12 | 2,925 | 139 | 3,076 |
| Totals | 381 | 5,923 | 1,399 | 7,703 |
(a) These establishments include residential schools and nurseries, welfare establishments, ambulance
stations, occupation centres for the mentally defective, main drainage outfall works, clinics, district offices
(mental health) central dental laboratory, etc.
(b) There are 103 visiting medical officers and seven visiting dental officers employed at residential establishments
on a part-time basis whom it is not possible to compute in terms of whole-time units of staff. They have
therefore been omitted from the table.
(c) Including physiotherapists, chiropodists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, psychotherapists,
dental attendants and dental technicians.
Training of health visitors—The Council appointed 45 student health visitors for training
in 1958-59 under its standing arrangements. Theoretical training was provided by the
University of London Institute of Education (35 students), the Battersea College of Technology
(6 students) and the Royal College of Nursing (4 students), arrangements for practical
instruction in the department's divisional establishments being arranged and co-ordinated
with the theoretical training under the direction of the Council's principal health visitor
tutor. All the students completed the course and sat for the examination and 43 were
successful.
Nursing staff— Following a recommendation of the Nurses and Midwives Whitley
Council, the hours of duty of nursing staff in the Council's residential establishments
were reduced from 96 to 88 hours a fortnight with effect from 1 April, 1959.
Psychotherapists: qualification for appointment—Psychotherapists are employed by the
Council at child guidance units and at schools for maladjusted children. In November,
1959 the qualifications of applicants for posts in this grade were reviewed. It was decided
that future candidates for appointment as psychotherapist shall have undertaken specialised
training in psychotherapy, including analysis with children. They shall possess either an
honours degree in psychology or its equivalent; or other university degree which, if it
does not include an approved basic training in psychology or scientific study of human
relations, is coupled with an approved post-graduate diploma in psychology or the
certificate in mental health; or other appropriate academic qualification or experience.
Ill