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PERSONAL HEALTH
Alcoholism
The extent of alcoholism in the borough is not known and hostel provision
specifically for this purpose is not included in the Council's Ten-Year Plan.
This category of patient would not normally be admitted to the Council's
" Windsmill " hostel but one of the persons maintained by the Council in a
voluntary home was so placed for rehabilitation following hospital treatment
for alcoholism; he made progress and took his own discharge to lodgings.
Home Help Service
Section 29,
National Health Service Act, 1946
A local health authority may make arrangements for providing domestic help
households where such help is required owing to the presence of any
person who is ill, lying in, an expectant mother, aged, or a child not over
compulsory school age within the meaning of the Education Act 1944. In
Enfield the Borough Council continued to provide a home help service.
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.
By December, 150 (whole-time equivalent) home helps were employed,
compared with 142 the previous year, but, despite improved recruitment, the
help available continued to be insufficient to meet increasing demands on
the service. In order, therefore, to ensure that as many applicants as
possible received assistance, the help provided in individual cases
was necessarily limited. The continued provision of transport between
districts for the home helps, in addition to encouraging recruitment, also
helped to improve the service in those areas where the greatest difficulty is
experienced.
The figures set out in the table show a continuing decrease in the demand
for help in maternity cases and an increase in help for the aged. No cases
occurred necessitating assistance under the special scheme whereby
domestic help is provided to women suffering from toxaemia of pregnancy.
Neighbourly
Help Scheme
This scheme, which in operation has the effect of reducing slightly the
demands on available home help staff resources, provides for the payment
of small weekly sums to neighbours who are prepared to give certain
domestic help to those in need. The scheme operates on a relatively small
scale. Many people are unable or unwilling to undertake the responsibility;
others are prepared to help their neighbours without reward. It is, however,
necessary that the neighbourly help live near the person requiring assistance,
and it is not always possible to link offers of help with persons in need.
Ten families received assistance under this scheme, and at the end of the
year nine neighbourly helps were employed.
in-service Training
The in-service training scheme for home helps continued during 1970.
Details are given in the section of this report on staff training.
Ten-year plan for health services
The Department of Health and Social Security again requested the submission
of a revised three-year building programme of projects for which it
was anticipated that loan sanction would be sought. Although no request
was received for a Ten-Year Development Plan the opportunity was taken
to review the Council's ten-year plan for the health services.
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