View report page

This report, the last of the Bexley Health and Welfare Department, is written with a certain
amount of nostalgia, for it is a matter of considerable regret that in the past a number of
people in their enthusiasm for bringing about the new Social Services Act, have felt it necessary
to denigrate the work which had been carried out in this department, often in the face of
considerable difficulty and staff shortages. The impression that concern for the underprivileged
started only with the formation of the new department is erroneous. It is palpably unfair to
the highly dedicated staff of the Health Department, working hard and making the best use
of the skills and resources available. It must never be forgotten that deficiencies in any services
can be well known to the members of the Department, but that the progress made depends
very much on national and local resources.
Another major move during the year was that of the Public Health Inspectorate to the
premises of the former Children's Department at Gravel Hill. It enabled the whole of the Social
Services Department to be concentrated at Brampton Road, bringing with it shorter distances
of communication, and the chance of joint services. Unfortunately the site was not big enough
to include also the Public Health Inspectorate. The move was undertaken with some reluctance
and trepidation because traditionally, and in practice, the work of the Inspectorate is closely
interwoven with the rest of the Health Department. Nevertheless first indications are that the
move has in no way undermined the close working relationships which in general are so dependent
on personalities.
My grateful thanks are due to the Chairman and Members of the Social Services (and
Children's) Committee, and to all Members of the Council, for their active help and
encouragement in this difficult year.
Grateful acknowledgement and thanks are also made to all my colleagues in other health
fields for their co-operation and collaboration in Community Medicine in the service of the
residents of Bexley. I am particularly indebted to all General Practitioners, and to Hospital and
Voluntary Association staffs.
My thanks are also due to colleagues in other Departments of the Council for their
co-operation and help, and, perhaps most of all, to the members of the staff of the Health
Department who have at all times given me their full co-operation and willingness in trying
to achieve the objectives of the Department in a difficult and harrassing period of time when
change was so imminent. Without their hard and diligent work I could not have performed
this task.
I am.
Yours respectfully,
HERBERT JAMES
Medical Officer of Health &
Principal School Medical Officer
December, 1970
6