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10
Vaccination and Immunisation
9.—It is the duty of the Health Visitor to visit the parents of
every child aged 2—3 months to urge vaccination. A special
form is supplied by the Clerical Officer which serves as a
reminder to the Health Visitor and as a record of the result.
Similarly she is required to visit again at 6—9 months specifically
to urge immunisation against Diphtheria. Immunisation against
Whooping Cough is given if requested but not advocated in the
same manner as vaccination and diphtheria immunisation. It is
normally given as a mixed Diphtheria/Whooping Cough reagent.
A reminder is sent to parents of school entrants which also
advises " booster " doses at 5 years and 10 years of age. These
forms are distributed through the schools, and injections given
in the schools.
Ambulance Service
10.—The three divisions of a modern Ambulance Service
which have developed since the appointed day are evident in
Croydon:—
(a) The emergency and accident calls.
(b) The less urgent but priority hospital admissions.
(c) The out-patient clinic appointments.
The first group comprises the oldest ambulance duty and has
produced no special difficulty. The second group has been complicated
by the new availability of hospitals irrespective of borough
boundaries. It is usually when the pressure of work is heaviest
that vacant beds cannot be obtained in local hospitals, and
ambulances are required to transport patients anywhere in the
Greater London area. It is, however, the demands of the third
group which seem insatiable, despite the application of the
measures suggested by Ministry of Health Circular 30/51.
Patients are quite properly discharged home from hospitals at
the earliest opportunity both for their own benefit and to achieve
a high usage rate for expensive in-patient hospital beds.
Frequently this can be done only if they are brought to and from
the hospital by ambulance transport for a period for routine
clinic treatment. Family doctors have been asked to limit
requests for domiciliary consultations, e.g., by referring appropriate
patients to an out-patient department. Again, this is often
possible only if ambulance transport is provided. These treatment
and consultation journeys involve in Croydon not only local
institutions, but also all the London Teaching Hospitals, as the