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HEALTH VISITING
Under Section 24 of the National Health Service Act, 1946, it is the duty of
every local health authority to make provision in their area for the visiting of
persons in their homes by health visitors for the purpose of giving advice as to the
care of young children, persons suffering from illness and expectant or nursing
mothers, and as to the measures necessary to prevent the spread of infection.
The work of health visitors has many facets, embracing as it does directly or
indirectly all the health and social services provided for each and every member
of the family. Continuing well below full establishment, health visitors each had a
heavy case load of between 600 and 700 families.
The total number of effective visits was 39,574 — a marked increase on last
year — which included 36,392 to mothers, babies and children under five years of
age; 2,331 to the elderly; 162 to mentally disordered persons; 91 to discharged
hospital patients (other than mental cases); and 53 to households on account of
infectious disease.
Other duties included attendance at ante-natal, post-natal and child welfare
clinics, running mothercraft and relaxation classes, and the important function of
health education practised in the home, clinics and schools.
Liaison with Hospitals and General Practitioners
Health visitors have attended the paediatric clinic at Chase Farm Hospital,
where advice and instructions given by the consultant paediatrician are passed on,
by those attending, to their colleagues in respect of the children in their areas.
Health visitors have also commenced attending the Maternity Unit at South
Lodge Hospital, as well as the unit at Chase Farm Hospital where they have
attended for a number of years.
Arrangements were made for two health visitors each to have closer liaison
with a medical group practice. Under this scheme, the health visitor attends the
local authority clinic as usual, but her visiting covers the families of the medical
group practice instead of a geographical area. The arrangement appears to be
working well and has resulted in an increased number of elderly people being visited.
Relaxation and Mothercraft
Seventy-five courses on relaxation and mothercraft for expectant mothers were
held at clinics. Each course consists of six sessions and during the year 450 sessions
were held. Three thousand five hundred and thirty-nine attendances were made by
645 women.
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