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Lack of sufficient hospital beds for maternity patients continued to present a problem.
A clearing house system has been set up in the division to help expectant mothers,
particularly those whose home conditions did not permit a domiciliary confinement, and
for whom their local clinic had failed to find a maternity bed. During 1961 the divisional
'bed bureau' handled 724 cases and was able to find beds for 498 mothers. In 1962 the
number dealt with was almost the same (726) but pressure for maternity beds throughout
the London area was so great that only 399 were found beds. The remainder were referred,
where possible, to the domiciliary midwifery service or to the Emergency Bed Service for
hospital admission when in labour.
In March the Hallfield child welfare centre was opened in accommodation on the
ground floor of a block of flats on the Paddington Borough Council's Hallfield Estate.
The centre provides for the needs of the new estate and surrounding district and made it
possible to cease the use of two church halls for maternity and child welfare sessions.
Following discussions between representatives of the Council and St. Mary's hospital, staff
and students from the hospital will take part in the work of this new centre.
Prophylaxis—The first weeks of 1962 were overshadowed by the diagnosis of a case of
smallpox in St. Pancras. Fortunately no secondary cases resulted in the division, although
there was another case in London and others elsewhere in the country. To satisfy the
enormous public demand for protection extra clinic sessions were held, including lunchtime
clinics at Caxton Hall to cater for people working in the West End. At the height of
the demand, in the week ending 20 January, 17 extra sessions were held, including five
evening sessions. Some idea of the extent of the demand for vaccination, both primary and
revaccination, can be seen by the fact that in the first quarter of the year 49,738 persons
were vaccinated in Council clinics, whereas in the last quarter, when demand had resumed
its normal level, the number had fallen to 851.
The Sabin type of oral poliomyelitis vaccine was introduced and by the end of the year
some 7,000 persons had completed a course of three doses; in addition, doses were given
to complete courses started with Salk vaccine. An intensive effort was made during the
spring to ensure that all school children in the division had the opportunity to receive
complete courses of vaccination, including a fourth dose where appropriate.
The administration of measles antigen was started experimentally at one clinic, under
the auspices of a research team from University College hospital.
School health—In July responsibility for the administration of St. Pancras school treatment
centre passed from the hands of the voluntary committee which had already given
up its treatment centre at Somers Town in 1960. Now, after fifty years of valuable service
in the field of school health, the voluntary committee asked the Council to undertake the
running of its last remaining centre.
Prevention of break-up of families—The extremely valuable work in connection with the
prevention of neglect and ill-treatment of children in their own homes has continued to
increase. During the year 87 families came before the divisional co-ordinating machinery
as presenting particularly difficult problems.
Intermediate case conferences continued to be well attended by both statutory and
voluntary agencies. The largest number of referrals again came from health visitors but
outside agencies referred a number of families. During the year the divisional mental
welfare officer became a member of the divisional co-ordinating committee; this has proved
a most effective link as a number of the families discussed are already well known to the
mental health section. At the end of 1962 there were two full-time case workers in the
division and three social workers undertaking part-time case work with difficult families.
Mental health—The pressure for compulsory admissions continued high throughout the
year.
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