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66
CO-ORDINATION.
In recent years a thoroughly co-ordinated service has been
built up for the supervision of the health of children from birth
until the end of school life. The break in this supervision that
takes place at five years of age, when the child is admitted to
school and passes from the care of the Maternity and Child
Welfare Service to the School Medical Service, is more
artificial than real. The artificial nature is due to the Maternity
and Child Welfare Committee being legally responsible for the care
of the child under five years of age and the Education Committee
for the child during school life, from 5 to 14 years of age. The absence
of a real break in the supervision is brought about by the fact that
the Medical Officer of Health is responsible for the administration of
both the services, that the medical supervision of the children
throughout the period from birth to the end" of their attendance at
school is carried out in buildings, Health Centres, set aside for this
special purpose, and that all special medical supervision and treatment
which is available for the child over 5 years of age is available
for those under 5 years. The medical records of a child under 5 years
pass automatically from ore service to the other in the same way as
they might do if there was only one service but with different
members of the staff supervising different age-groups.
Two new Health Centres were opened during the year. The
one, Islips Manor Centre, was formed by the adaptation of a large
dwelling-house, Islips Manor, to serve the needs of the Northolt
area, and the other, Ravenor Park Centre, is a new building specially
built for the purpose, to serve the needs of the Greenford area. A
description of these Centres is given in the Report on the Health
of the Borough.