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school of children under five years of age, the use of the personal health services in preventing
children being received into care and the co-operation between almoners and the
care committee organisation.
Staff—At the end of September the health visitors in the Hammersmith area were
transferred from the Town Hall to Council premises which were for the most part the
welfare centres from which they worked.
The home help office for the Hammersmith area was transferred from Hammersmith
Town Hall to the Glenthorne Road welfare centre premises.
All 10 day nursery students who entered for the 1959 examination of the National
Nursery Examination Board passed.
DIVISION 2, comprising the boroughs of Hampstead, Paddington, St. Marylebone,
St. Pancras and the City of Westminster
Dr. H. L. Oldershaw reports:
Maternity and child welfare—A small decrease in the number of births, 8,113 against
8,401 in the previous year, is reflected in the work done in the maternity and child welfare
centres.
Health visiting—The fall in the number of births and a continuing process of more
selective visiting are factors in the reduction of home visits by 11,754 compared with 1958.
Home help—There was a reduction of 239 households assisted as compared with the
previous year. Four-fifths of the service continues to be provided for the aged and chronic
sick.
Day nurseries—An outstanding feature of the day nursery service has been the unusually
high attendance rates. A special review in September showed that no less than 97 per cent,
of the places available in the division were being taken up. Small variations in the numbers
of approved places and the closure of a grant-aided part-time day nursery resulted in an
overall reduction of approved places by 25 to 970. The number of children on the registers
at the end of the year, 1,071 (including 70 children resident in neighbouring divisions),
indicates the continuing need of the service at present levels.
City of Westminster Health Society—The grant-aided part-time day nursery mentioned
in the foregoing paragraph was provided at Marsham Street, S.W.I, by the City of Westminster
Health Society, which has a notable record of voluntary service for the improvement
of health in Westminster since its formation in 1903. As the demand for nursery care
in Westminster could be met by the two day nurseries provided by the Council in the
locality, agreement was reached with the Society for the closure of their part-time day
nursery. The Council's grant for the maternity and child welfare services provided by the
Society continues, subject to review.
Prophylaxis—The inoculation of children against disease continues as an important and
integral part of the activities of the child welfare and school health services.
The programme of poliomyelitis vaccination for the 1933 to 1942 groups and third
injections, which began towards the end of 1958, continued with only modest results into
the early months of 1959. This was transformed in April, when sudden public interest
throughout the country produced a heavy increase in attendances. During the peak of this
period people were receiving vaccination at the rate of about 8,600 a week at seven centres
providing 'open' sessions, at special sessions for further education establishments and on
the premises of industrial and commercial concerns. In one 2½-hour lunch-time session
1,959 persons attended the clinic temporarily established at the Caxton Hall, Westminster.
Towards the end of the summer public interest in these 'open' clinics was upheld by
various methods, including public address equipment which toured the neighbourhood of
clinics whilst sessions were in progress. The year's work resulted in no less than 171,139
separate attendances at clinics arranged by the Council and general practitioners' surgeries.
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