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be somewhat higher than those of similar Council houses in other
parts of the Borough, owing to the high cost involved in land
acquisition and the preparation of the site for building, nevertheless
the Council feel that prospective tenants will recognize the advantages
of living within the Borough rather than having to pay heavy
travelling expenses which would have been the case had the Council
gone farther afield for building land."
By the end of the year 113 dwellings on the estate were occupied,
and plans for an infants' school and a clinic were at an advanced
stage.
Clinic Premises
During the year the County Council approved the inclusion in
their Capital Building Programme of clinic premises to serve the
Thames View Estate, and the Borough Architect was requested to
prepare plans for the building.
Reference was made in last year's report to the fact that it was
hoped eventually to include therein accommodation for general
medical practitioner services. It was realized, of course, that this
would mean th building had to be classified as a health centre, and
that under present circumstances there was little likelihood of the
Ministry giving early approval to such a proposal. This is a very
great pity since as the Medical Practices Committee for England and
Wales told the Minister in its fifth Annual Report published during
the year, "it cannot be too strongly emphasized that once patients
on such an estate have been accepted on the list of a doctor outside
its boundary, it is of little or no avail to anyone if the Local Authority
subsequently provides land or property for other doctors to practise
within the estate itself, either from their own houses or from a health
centre. The time when this provision should be made is when the
first dwellings become occupied or shortly after."
We have worked on the assumption that, however much undesirable
delay there may be, the family doctors and local authority staff
will eventually work together under one roof. Although the distinction
may seem unimportant, we have, therefore, planned a health
centre, part of which can be erected immediately to form a self-contained
clinic, rather than design a clinic which could later be extended
to include accommodation for general practitioners.
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