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 1963

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]

This page requires JavaScript

Table: National welfare foodsAverage weekly issues

National welfare foods

Average weekly issues

19591960196119621963
National dried milk (tins)15,32813,81711,64710,5629,527
Cod-liver oil (bottles)3,4693,4422,6231,7091,009
Vitamin tablets (packets)2,7752,8372,1091,1961,117
Orange juice (bottles)30,41228,86418,51411,31512,037
NOTE: The following charges applied as from 1.6.61: Cod-liver oil—Is. a bottle (previously free).Vitamin tablets—5d. a packet (previously free).Orange juice—Is. 6d. a bottle (previously 6d. a bottle).

Table: Table(ii)—Day nurseries and child minders

Table(ii)—Day nurseries and child minders

At 31 December
19591960196119621963
DAY NURSERIES:
Maintained7574737372
Grant-aided44444
Total7978777776
Places: under 2 years1,6931,6491,6231,6231,639
2-5 years2,4992,4202,3942,3872,348
Total4,1924,0694,0174,0103,987
OCCASIONAL CRECHES:
Sessions authorised each week178288111118
Places provided each week2801,4201,6101,8702,077
COUNCIL'S CHILD MINDER SCHEME
(Voluntary registration):
Child minders registered875989861810772
Children minded1,0391,1879939611,005
NURSERIES AND CHILD-MINDERS
REGULATION ACT, 1948:
Private day nurseries registered (including part-time nurseries)6059697888
Places1,6201,5951,8401,9272,221
Child minders registered167202210221237
No. of children authorised to be minded9391,0231,0881,2651,300

Text

Copy text to clipboard

Day nurseries—Although the circumstances at some day nurseries make family grouping
impracticable, wherever it is possible to do so mixed age grouping is adopted. At the end
of the year children were cared for in this way in 56 out of 76 of the Council's maintained
or grant-aided day nurseries.
Occasional creches—These creches provide for the children of mothers attending a clinic
or class on the premises and also give occasional relief to mothers who, for various reasons
such as visits to hospitals, shopping, laundering and other domestic duties, wish to be
relieved of their young children for two or three hours during the day; they also present
an opportunity for an only child to associate with other children of similar age. In 1963
a total of 5,527 sessions were held with attendances of 75,492.
Maternity beds
The difficulties of some London mothers in booking a maternity bed continued to give
rise to great anxiety and in June the Minister of Health received the Chairman, ViceChairman
and members of the Health Committee, the Medical Officer of Health and
45