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The Metropolitan Water Board received in July a report on the financial, legal
and medical considerations involved. Since eleven of the thirty-three local health
authorities wholly or partly within the Board's area were then against fluoridation
and it is virtually impossible to confine artificially fluoridated water to any particular
area, the Board resolved that no decision be taken until all the authorities involved
reach agreement or until legislation was enacted on the subject.
In October, the Council advised the Department of Health and Social Security
that it had confirmed its earlier decision in favour of fluoridation and that the Council
supported the London Boroughs' Association's request for an early government
decision as to whether or not fluoridation should be nationally implemented since
there seemed little prospect of total unanimity. The Secretary of State regarded it as
premature to adopt the proposals submitted by the London Boroughs' Association.
For practical purposes, the situation remains unchanged from my previous
reports.
HEALTH EDUCATION
Health Education activities are undertaken by virtue of Section 179 of the Public
Health Act, 1936 and Section 28 of the National Health Service Act, 1946. During
the year the intended staff reorganisation of the Health Education section took place,
a qualified Health Education Officer and also a Technician being appointed. They
set about their duties with enthusiasm and initiated a wide variety of health education
activities, with special emphasis on the younger age groups.
Talks and lectures were also given by the professional staff to groups and
organisations on a variety of subjects including cervical cytology, home safety, child
care and food hygiene.
Posters dealing with health subjects were displayed on public notice boards
throughout the borough and in public buildings, shops, factories, doctors' and
dentists' surgeries, etc. Leaflets and booklets were distributed.
MENTAL HEALTH
It is the duty of a local health authority to provide Mental Health Services under
the Mental Health Act, 1959, and subject to the provisions of Section 12 of the
Health Services and Public Health Act, 1968.
The shift of emphasis from hospital care to community care, introduced by the
Mental Health Act, 1959, is a continuing process and, coupled with an ever-increasing
incidence of mental ill-health, constitutes a growing demand for these services.
Nowhere is the development of community care services more evident than in
the provision of residential accommodation. The Council's “Windsmill" Recuperative
Hostel is now an established feature of the provision for those recovering from
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