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6,954 in 1937. This fall is partly due to fewer visits being required to
cases of infectious disease, other than tuberculosis. The chief cause,
however, and the one which will continue to influence the number of
visits in the future, is the increased number of fixed appointments
which the Health Visitors have to keep. As compared with mid-1936,
the Sanderstead and Old Coulsdon Centres, together with the Postnatal
and Immunisation Clinics, absorb no less than 9 extra sessions a
month, hence the time available for visitation has been greatly reduced.
This year the effect has been to reduce the average number of re-visits
to children under one year of age from 3.3 re-visits per child to 2.5 revisits,
while children from 1 to 5 years have received 1.8 visits as
compared with 2.1 visits in 1936. The percentage of births visited
has also been reduced from 93 per cent. in 1935 and 1936, to 90 per cent.
in 1937.
These reductions are not in themselves of vital importance provided
that fewer visits are only paid to those families least needing visitation.
They reveal an inevitable interim stage in a rapidly developing district
such as this. As, however, the number of births each year steadily
increases, while there is a tendency for more rather than fewer fixed
appointments, the time is rapidly approaching when the services of
a fourth Health Visitor will be required if the standard of work is not
to fall below that desirable for this District.
Visits paid by Health Visitors.
633 first visits to babies
1,607 visits to babies under one year
3,905 visits to children from one to five years
241 Ante-natal visits
137 first visits
104 re-visits
115 visits to cases of tuberculosis—
69 first visits
46 re-visits
1 visit to a case of mumps
7 first visits to cases of chicken pox
41 visits to cases of whooping cough—
30 first visits
11 re-visits
8 visits to cases of measles—
7 first visits
1 re-visit
2 investigations of cases of ophthalmia neonatorum
5 investigations of cases of puerperal fever
2 investigations of cases of puerperal pyrexia
16 investigations of infant deaths
14 investigations of cases of stillbirths
357 miscellaneous visits
6,954 Total
37