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Health and Welfare Department,
9 Brampton Road,
Bexleyheath, Kent.
To: The Worshipful The Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the London Borough of Bexley.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour of presenting my first Annual Report, for the year 1970, produced
in accordance with the Department of Health and Social Security Circular 1/71. I would have
liked to have produced this report at an earlier date, but due to the constant pressure of work
brought by relative staff shortages gnd by constantly changing emphasis on the services of the
Department this has not proved possible.
Tribute must be paid at the outset to the Acting Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Millar,
and his loyal and hard working colleagues, who have produced the majority of the material
for this report. Special mention should be made of Dr. Millar, whose great loyalty and sound
knowledge of the situation helped to smooth the path on so many occasions.
The report is written in the light of the many changes brought about by the introduction
of the Social Services Act 1970, and the likelihood of further legislation in 1974 covering the
unification of the Health Services, and I would welcome my new colleague, Mr. No6l Hustler,
the Director of Social Services, appointed at the same time as I was, to wish him and his
Department well in the future, and to assure him of the fullest support of the Health Department
staff.
In October, when first appointed, it became clear to me that the prime objective in the
remaining months of the year was to make sure of the continued effectiveness of those parts
of the Health and Welfare Department which would remain with the re-organised Health
Department, as well as making sure that those parts to be administered in future by the Social
Services Department, i.e. Welfare, Mental Health and Home Help Services, would be considered
to be fully functional until full integration of the various social services was achieved.
The Management Services Department advised the Council that certain services might more
efficiently and economically be administered on a shared basis between Health and Social Services.
The Social Services Department was allocated the buildings on the east side of Brampton Road,
except for a small number of rooms in the house previously occupied by the Public Health
Inspectors and the Health Department the existing buildings on the west side. The post and
reprographic, as well as messenger, services to be provided by the Health Department, while
the Typing Pool and Transport would in future oe jointly operated by the Social Services
Department. A major innovation attempted, perhaps with slightly mixed feelings, was the creation
of a Finance Section shared with Social Services, directly under the control of a Senior Officer
of the Borough Treasurer. To my knowledge this is the first time this has been attempted by
a Health Department, and I am sure that the functioning of this section will require careful
observation to see it fulfils its hoped for purpose.
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