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(c) recording the results of any exposure to pertussis and poliomyelitis.
This involves the collection and examination of blood samples and specimens of faeces at
planned intervals from all children in the trial.
A part-time medical officer took charge of the field work in the division. It will be some
time before these trials are fully evaluated.
Premises—An annexe at Cromwell Lodge hostel, providing a workshop for occupational
therapy and an office for the two occupational therapists who run a domiciliary service for
tuberculous persons, was completed by the end of the year. It is hoped that the workshop
will stimulate more residents of the hostel to take up occupational therapy.
Home help service—While the number of persons receiving help at the end of the year
was 2.5 per cent less than at the end of 1960 the number of home helps, expressed as the
equivalent of whole time workers, fell in the same period by 13.8 per cent. This was due to
increasing difficulty in recruiting sufficient women of the required calibre to make good
the losses due to resignations. The result was that the number of hours of service which
could be allocated had fallen in all three home help areas to an extent that was barely
adequate for the needs of many patients, especially the aged. In five years the service given,
expressed in average hours per patient per week, gradually fell from 3.8 to 3.01 in the
southern area; from 4.7 to 2.86 in the central area; and from 4.5 to 3.08 in the northern
area. It was evident, therefore, that special measures would have to be taken to increase
the flow of recruits so as to restore the level of service provided to an average of four hours
service a patient each week. An intensive recruiting campaign was therefore planned for
the new year.
Mental health—The work of building up the community mental health service has gone
steadily on throughout the year. The field of subnormality has continued to claim a considerable
share of workers' time and interest. Close contact has been maintained with the
North London Society for Mentally Handicapped Children, which continues to render
admirable service to children suffering from severe subnormality and to their families. At the
end of the year a new advisory clinic for young retarded children was opened at the East
Islington child welfare centre. The Elfrida Rathbone committee, on which the divisional
mental welfare officer serves, has worked in close co-operation to give social support to the
families of subnormal children and particularly also to school leavers. A special interest
has been maintained in homeless subnormal young men and women. A privately run
hostel in the area is giving considerable assistance with men and boys and a number of
hostels and employers are helping young women who not infrequently turn up at the
office without warning, complete with baggage.
In the field of mental illness the part played by the mental health team community
services has been consolidated and closer contacts are being forged with the psychiatric
hospitals. There has been a considerable shortage of senior staff with a continuity of
service, owing to the overriding needs of the night and off-duty rota which must be maintained
on a county-wide basis. A psychiatric social worker who joined the team in the
autumn is now making an increasingly important contribution to the service; it is hoped to
open a psychiatric social club and also a temporary day centre in the near future. The
number of cases referred to the mental health section for help and support is steadily
increasing. A part-time occupational therapist was appointed to visit mentally ill patients
in their own homes; this has been found to be a much appreciated service which is capable
of further development.
DIVISION 4, comprising the boroughs of Hackney, Shoreditch and Stoke Newington.
Dr. S. King reports:
Maternity and child welfare—The number of births occurring in the division continues
to increase; attendances at ante-natal sessions were considerably higher than in 1961,
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