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12. HEALTH VISITING
The Health Visiting Service is operated by the Council under Section 24 of the
National Health Service Act, 1946, for which it employs a Chief Nursing Officer
(Health Visiting), a Deputy Chief Nursing Officer (Health Visiting), a Senior
Divisional Health Visitor, two Divisional Health Visitors, 33 full-time health visitors
and four part-time health visitors. Twelve clinic nurses are also employed to assist
the health visitors with some of their routine work in the clinics and at school. A
health visitor is a state registered nurse who has midwifery experience (either the full
qualification of a midwife or Part I Certificate of the Central Midwives Board, or a
three months' approved obstetric course), and has also received the Certificate in
Health Visiting after a further one year's training at a recognized centre.
Each health visitor works from one of the Council's health clinics and has charge
of a district. She is the health educator, the all purpose medico-social worker to
all the families in her area, and frequently acts as the liaison officer between the
general practitioners and the social and welfare services. She is in addition the
school nurse to all the schools in her district under the School Health Service. She
is responsible for advising on the health and general well-being of all children under
school age, either in their homes or at child welfare sessions held at the clinics, for
organizing ante-natal classes for expectant mothers, for the follow-up of handicapped
children and for the home visiting of the aged. One of the Divisional Health Visitors
is charged with the organization and co-ordination of health education carried out
by the health visitors, which includes poster displays in clinics, group discussion
with mothers, film shows, teaching in schools and evening talks to various local
organizations on health matters.
Under the new regulations for the training of health visitor students, four of the
health visitors received in-service training during the year to qualify as Fieldwork
Instructors. They, themselves, in turn were responsible for the training of the five
Council sponsored health visitor students and one independent student. One other
health visitor took the training course in teaching methods organized by the Health
Visitors' Association to enable her to teach in schools. The Chief Nursing Officer
(Health Visiting) attended a week's administrative course held in London by the
London Boroughs Training Committee.
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