London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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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]
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Day accommodation for children Table (ii)—Day nurseries and child minders
| At 31st December | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | |
| DAY NURSERIES: | |||||
| Maintained | 94 | 86 | 81 | 76 | 75 |
| Grant-aided | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Total | 99 | 91 | 86 | 81 | 79 |
| Places 0-2 | 1,903 | 1,775 | 1,747 | 1,690 | 1,693 |
| Places 2-5 | 3,677 | 3,368 | 2,988 | 2,631 | 2,499 |
| Total places | 5,580 | 5,143 | 4,735 | 4,321 | 4,192 |
| COUNCIL'S CHILD MINDER SCHEME | |||||
| (Voluntary registration): | |||||
| Child minders registered | 743 | 111 | 838 | 824 | 875 |
| Children minded | 851 | 886 | 954 | 973 | 1,039 |
| NURSERIES & CHILD MINDERS REGULATION ACT, 1948: | |||||
| Private day nurseries registered (including | |||||
| part-time nurseries) | 56 | 58 | 60 | 59 | 60 |
| Places | 1,640 | 1,646 | 1,701 | 1,742 | 1,620 |
| Child minders registered | 106 | 102 | 132 | 141 | 167 |
| No. of children authorised to be minded | 649 | 611 | 699 | 781 | 939 |
Occasional creches—At 31 December, 1959, 17 creches provided 280 places. This service
was substantially self-supporting, except for the free admission of children during the time
their mothers were attending clinic and health education sessions.
Prevention of break-up of families
Following a review of the work done by the five social case workers appointed to
temporary positions in three divisions, the Council decided to increase the number of social
case workers to fifteen. The Council also authorised an experiment in arranging for selected
assistant organisers of children's care work to undertake the support and intensive care of
one or two problem families each. Recruitment and selection of staff continued during the
year, with the aim of extending this service to all divisions, and by 31 December, 1959
eight full-time and one part-time social case workers and three assistant organisers were
undertaking intensive work with problem families in five divisions.
Home-making courses for selected mothers
Since 1954 the Council has been associated with a few special home-making courses for
selected mothers. Some of these have been organised by voluntary committees under the
auspices of the London Council of Social Service, with financial assistance from the
Council; others are run entirely by the Council's own staff. The courses provide for regular
weekly meetings of a small group of mothers known to have problems, including some
mothers of' problem families They receive instruction and advice in simple housecraft,
child management, household budgeting and similar subjects; many of the groups also
arrange social activities in which their members with their husbands and children may
share. Each group has a leader who arranges the activities and if necessary encourages the
mothers to attend regularly. There were 11 such groups meeting regularly at the end of
1959, eight of them with voluntary committees.
Experience has been that the mothers gain not only from the instruction given but also
from friendly association with other members of the group. The Council is now cooperating
with the Advisory Group on Home-making, set up by the London Council of
Social Service under the chairmanship of Sir Allen Daley, in an enquiry into the progress
made by mothers attending the courses.
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