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REHOUSING ON MEDICAL GROUNDS
As in previous years my Department has continued to act as
adviser to the Housing Department where applicants have put forward
medical grounds in their claims for rehousing. As almost half the
cases require a visit from at least one and sometimes two or more
members of staff as well as enquiries to hospital or family doctor
it will be seen from the statistics given below that this often difficult
task continues to require a considerable amount of time from the staff
of the Health Department.
Statistics
Total number of applications 457
Number recommended for rehousing 129
VENEREAL DISEASE
Contact Tracing
This Borough being conveniently situated for travel to
Central London, has patients attending special clinics at most of the
major London Hospitals as well as the local centre at Oldchurch
Hospital.
Mrs. C. Ledden, Area Nursing Officer, is the designated person
that special clinics can approach regarding contact tracing in the Borough
but requests for assistance are rare.
It is understood that in most instances the staff employed by
the Hospital Service can cope with the work involved without additional
assistance from this authority.
Health Education
The risk to health of sexually transmitted disease is included
as a subject by the Health Education Section in their general health
education syllabus for schools, and in talks to adult groups that
request it.
TUBERCULOSIS
I am indebted to Dr. F. Macken, Consultant Chest Riysician,
for the following report
An Odelca unit x-ray session was started at Five Elms Road in
the winter of 1968 and still continues to flourish. General Practitioners
may refer patients for x-ray only. Appreciation is due to our Radiographer,
her darkroom assistant and our clerical staff for handling this increase
in number of x-rays dealt with through these years. In the past twelve
months 1398 patients have been referred by general practitioners of whom
98 were recalled for large films or examination.
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