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67
From this summary it will be recognised that two important
developments have taken place in the five years from 1920 to 1925.
The first is that provision has been made for maternity cases at
the Chiswick and Ealing Maternity Hospital, and the second is that
treatment for crippled children has been arranged for at the National
Orthopaedic Hospital. The great need for the former has been
evidenced by the demands for admission which are so much in excess
of the accommodation that the question of making extensions will
have to be considered. As to the latter the scheme has just recently
been put into operation, but the beneficial effects are likely to be
far reaching in the future.
During the same period the Ealing Day Nursery was closed,
chiefly owing to the small number of children seeking admission
and the consequent high cost per child. Arrangements, however,
were made for six children being admitted to the Hanwell Day
Nursery. The Hostel for Unmarried Mothers was also closed,
the reasons being the high cost, when there was great need for
economy in public expenditure, the difficulty in management and
the doubt which was expressed as to whether the keeping of these
women together in one institution had a good effect on their mind
and character.
As regards the other work of the department there has been
an extension in the way of collective instruction in hygiene to the
mothers, and improvements in detail to meet increasing demands
on the part of the mothers and children.
As will be understood from the activities outlined above there
must be co-operation with the School Medical Service and it can be
said that this co-operation occurs to a very marked degree. This
is greatly facilitated by the Maternity and Child Welfare Centre
and the School Clinic occupying the same building which is devoted
entirely to these two branches of public work. Their close proximity
enables the records to be passed from the one department to the
other when the child reaches school age and so renders easy the
continuous treatment and supervision of abnormal or defective
children throughout a period of their life during which ills, which arc
apparently simple, may result, if not properly treated, in serious
permanent injury to health.