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On Wednesday morning, 4th December, there were group discussions and in the
afternoon the four groups reported their findings.
One group dramatized an incident which had happened in Dagenham where all the
services necessary for an emergency delivery were made available within a very short
space of time, thus demonstrating the good liaison which exists with other associated
agencies.
The second group gave details of what they felt necessary to improve public relations
as a result of the seminar. A number of points were raised which included:
a. The need for self control when interviewing a difficult member of the public.
b. The use of juniors in interviewing the public without training was undesirable.
c. That the use of press and posters could be a valuable means of letting the public
know something about our services.
The third group discussed relations between the staff in the Public Health Department
and suggested that it might be possible for them to gain some experience of work
in other departments of the Corporation so that they would have some background
knowledge which would help in public relations.
The purpose of the panel discussion (Tuesday morning) was reviewed and the
conclusion reached was that intended by the Central Council for Health Education,
viz: that this was an opportunity of feeding material into the machine to see how the
machine would deal with it and it was not just a matter of a number of criticisms being
put forward about the various departments.
Finally, the question of press relations was considered and instances were given where
members of the press had tried to get officers to give information on matters which
were not within their province.
The fourth group discussed the services provided in Dagenham for old people and
said that these services should be more publicized both to the general practitioners and
to the old people themselves. The services mentioned were the health visiting service,
the welfare officer, the home nursing service, an optical service, chiropody, domestic help,
recuperative holidays, Xmas parcels, free laundry for the incontinent, an old people's
clinic and old people's clubs. It was suggested that improvements might be made
including young people such as scouts and guides assisting with shopping and other light
chores. The final suggestion was that a survey of immobile old people should be carried
out and would be of great value.
Dr. Ward, the Deputy Director of the Central Council for Health Education,
summed up the discussion by saying that he was very impressed by the enthusiasm of
the staff and was very grateful to the Dagenham Borough Council, the Public Health
Committee and particularly to the Chairman of the Public Health Committee for the
personal interest she had shown in the seminar.
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