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reorganised to provide more spacious and self-contained accommodation for the Orthopaedic
and Physiotherapy department.
As I have said in previous reports and on as many occasions as opportunity has
arisen, Health Education is becoming one of our major functions, and this year I am
pleased to report the appointment of Mr. Self as Health Education Officer to the Public
Health Department of the Borough. Although he has only been here for a few months
the department is already becoming more conscious of the value of health education and
requests are coming in from members of our staff and from voluntary agencies for talks
and films and displays in clinics and clubs.
I am grateful to the Borough Librarian for the help he gave in providing a library
service of books specially related to the work of the health department to be borrowed on
extended loan by members of my staff. The books were chosen to cover all sides of the
work; child development, social medicine and social services, public health and sanitary
hygiene—especially the newer developments of radiation and radioactivity, and a number
related to the problems of the aged and ageing.
In comparison with the large industrial areas of the north, Dagenham has few
serious problem families (or as I prefer to call them, families with special difficulties)
but those we have cause concern and a great deal of extra work for the health visitors,
school nurses and home helps. Inadequate housing does not play a great part in the
difficulties of these families in Dagenham, for in spite of being comfortably housed many
of them fail to maintain even basic standards of care, housewifery, school attendance,
general health and nutrition. In an attempt to improve their standards by co-operation
and endeavour on their part rather than by the provision of the services of home helps
and health visitors, a survey of families in difficulties, based on a similar survey by the
London County Council, is being carried out by the health visitors and the possibility of
establishing a centre for housecraft is being considered. I hope that next year I shall
have more to report of this work.
During the year the poliomyelitis vaccination of 15—25 year olds was added to that
of the younger children and the successful working of the extra clinic sessions that this
has involved is due to the helpful co-operation of all the staff. I am pleased to report
that it was not necessary to curtail any of the other work of the medical officers to cover
the extra sessions of poliomyelitis immunisation and that we have maintained the level
of the past few years of diphtheria and whooping cough immunisation, with the exception
of the booster whooping cough at 3 years, and this has fallen sadly, due mainly, I think, j
to the fall-off in attendances at infant welfare clinics of the toddler age group.
As far as the work of the public health inspectors is concerned, it is a pleasure to
report the smoothness with which the first smoke control area was introduced into
Dagenham and some preliminary preparation for the second control area was carried
out. These two activities necessitated over 8,000 visits being paid by the public health
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