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75
much to remove conditions which are likely to have a
graver issue. As in the case of maternal deaths, all cases
notified under the Puerperal Fever and Puerperal
Pyrexia Regulations are investigated by a Health Visitor
and in addition the majority of cases are visited by your
Medical Officer of Health.
Of the 14 eases, 10 patients were admitted to
hospital, four of these being to Rush Green Isolation
Hospital and six to Oldchurch Hospital.
Work of Health Visitors.
During the latter part of the year a scheme was
introduced by which the records of Health Visitors'
visits were kept by the clerical staff and re-visits were
arranged by means of a card index system. By this
method all children under the age of five receive visits
at fixed intervals, or should circumstances otherwise
dictate they are visited more frequently. The whole of
the clerical work is taken from the Health Visitors, thus
enabling them to devote more time to the duties for
which they were appointed. This scheme ensures that
no children shall be overlooked and allows a continuous
record of their history to be filed, which is subsequently
passed on to the County Council for the information of
the School Medical Officers. In addition to the routine
visits, special visits are paid to eases of ophthalmia
neonatorum, puerperal fever and pyrexia, stillbirths,
infant deaths, etc., and subsequent to operative treatment
of tonsils and adenoids. The Health Visitors also
attended the various clinics. In the case of infant
welfare centres and ante-natal clinics, the Health Visitor
is, as far as possible, in charge of the session at which
the mothers from her district attend, thus preserving
the personal association of the Health Visitor with the
mother and children who live in her area.