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The former Middlesex County Council made proposals to provide a Home Help
Service under this Section when it became operative in July, 1948, and the London
Borough of Enfield has continued the service since its formation.
The Secretary of State has not yet made use of the powers provided by Section 13
of the Health Services and Public Health Act, 1968 (a) to impose on local health
authorities the duty to provide or arrange to provide a home help service adequate
to the needs of their area and (b) to enable local health authorities to provide or
arrange for the provision of laundry facilities for households for which home help
service is being or can be provided.
Difficulty continued to be experienced in recruiting adequate staff for the home
help service and a total of 142 whole-time equivalent home helps were employed
at the end of the year, compared with the previous year's figure of 150. It was necessary
to continue the limitation of the hours of help provided in individual cases in
order to assist as many applicants as possible. A re-organisation and augmentation
of the supervisory staff was undertaken during the year, and the provision of transport
for home helps between districts of the borough was introduced to encourage
recruitment and improve the service.
During the year 2,523 cases were provided with help, and, of these, 1,942 were
persons aged 65 years and over, 104 were maternity cases, 239 were chronic sick or
tuberculous, and two were mentally disordered. The remaining 236 cases were
assisted for various reasons, such as post-operative hospital discharge, ante-natal
conditions, and acute illness. These figures show a continuing decrease in the demand
for help in maternity cases and an increase in help for the aged.
Mothers suffering from toxaemia of pregnancy are provided with the service
free of charge, as it is important to ensure early and complete rest during the antenatal
period. Domestic help was provided for four such cases.
Neighbourly Help Scheme
Under this scheme neighbours may be paid a small weekly sum to provide
limited domestic help to those in need. The neighbourly help keeps a friendly eye
on the patient and undertakes or helps with certain household duties, such as firelighting,
preparing meals, shopping and cleaning. The scheme operates on a relatively
small scale as many prefer to be truly neighbourly and give their services without
charge, whilst others are unwilling to accept the responsibility.
Every effort is made to foster the scheme, thereby easing a little the demand on
the limited home help staff resources. However, it is essential for the neighbourly
help to live nearby, and, mainly for this reason, it is not always possible to link offers
of help with persons in need.
During the year nine families received assistance under this scheme, and at the
end of the year nine neighbourly helps were employed.
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