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One of our main objects is to co-ordinate the activities of the
various social workers and thus to reduce the number of visitors to
the home, so that any suggestion of creating yet another type of worker
must be examined critically. Surely the Health Visitor, whom I have
elsewhere described as the "general practitioner of the medico-social
services", is the logical person to deal with these families ? Remember
though that her job is primarily to prevent, and she leaves treatment
to other colleagues. If, for example, she fails to persuade parents to
have a child immunized and the child catches diphtheria then the care
is passed over to medical and nursing colleagues working in a hospital.
Similarly if she fails to educate parents in the correct handling of early
behaviour difficulties the child may become seriously maladjusted and
may have to receive help from the Child Guidance Team. Why then
should she not turn over a whole family to a special case worker when,
despite her efforts, it is in danger of breaking up?
Our experience has been that the families most in need of help
require much more intensive efforts than can be devoted to them by
any of us individually, and in one case much valuable assistance has
been given by a specially trained woman worker loaned by the
N.S.P.C.C. whether such workers should be attached to a voluntary
body rather an to the "Town Hall" is a matter for debate.
I should like to be able to give you full details of one particular
family since it happens to be the first we dealt with when we started
work last year and since we believe the break up of this family has
been prevented by our concerted and co-ordinated efforts, and that
this case alone justifies our first year's work. Unfortunately to do so
might make possible for others to identify the family.
RE OF THE AGED AND INFIRM
There is a continued shortage of hospital beds for aged and
chronic sick which is particularly acute in Barking as there is no
hospital in th Borough catering specifically for such patients. Even
When acute illness develops in an elderly patient it is often virtually
impossible to obtain a hospital bed until circumstances become really
desperate.
There is also a great demand for accommodation in County Council
homes and hostels where old people who still retain a measure of
independence and who are physically able to care for themselves are
able enjoy the company of people of contemporary age. There is
still almost complete absence of accommodation of an intermediate
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