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of inter-disciplinary Area Nursing Officers responsible for all nursing services within their
particular area of the Borough and the eventual appointment of a Chief Nursing Officer.
Attachment of Nursing Staff to General Practitioners
Probably no other single decision taken in the department will have wider reaching results
than the gradual attachment of "Nursing Teams" to General Practitioner patient lists. A pilot
project was agreed to in the northern part of the Borough and I am sure this will be expanded
throughout the coming years across the whole Borough.
I should particularly like to show my appreciation of the Nursing Staffs'full and enthusiastic
co-operation in this scheme, in the face of occasional disappointment and a generally increased
work-load. No praise is too high and I am sure I speak on behalf of all the General Practitioners
and Medical Officers in the department in saying 'Thank you" to all members of the nursing
staff.
Health Centres
The construction of the permanent health centre at Thamesmead continued and was nearing
completion at the end of the year. The building, was expected to become operational early
in 1972, when the services would transfer into it from the temporary health centre.
Vital Statistics
The local birth rate is remaining rather higher than for the rest of the London area, being
equal to that for England and Wales. In a dormitory suburb such as Bexley, family planning
must be kept in the forefront of any aim to improve general health standards among the
population, and it is gratifying to see the gradual increasing awareness of the public in this
respect.
Looking at the causes of deaths in the Borough, it is seen that the Heart and Vascular
Diseases accounted for by far the greatest number, i.e., 955 out of a total of 2149. Malignancy,
for so long most feared as the terminal illness, accounted for 451 deaths. This nevertheless
indicates a further rise in the number of deaths due to Carcinomas and from the classification
it will be seen that by far the commonest site remains malignancy of the lungs and bronchi,
the deaths in males being far higher than that in females. Perhaps one ought also to mention
the increase in suicides and self inflicted injuries. One wonders how significant this really is?
More and more it appears that a far greater amount of time, money and effort requires
to be spent on the elucidation of the epidemiology of the Cardio Vascular Diseases, if a long
and active life is to be our aim.
Assessment Groups
A somewhat unusual feature of the use of Clinics are the assessment groups catering for
pre school children who are physically and mentally handicapped or are in need of assessment
prior to placement in a suitable school by the time school entry age is reached. The usefulness
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