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DID YOU KNOW that the English have the worst teeth in the world ?
Remember your dental hygiene.
DID YOU KNOW that nearly 24,000 people died of lung cancer last year and
that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer ?
Please, please, don't smoke, set an example to youth; to
children everywhere; to your own children.
If you wish any advice on public health matters, do not hesitate to contact
the Public Health Department, 308, Regents Park Road, Finchley, N.3.
Telephone: FINchley 0018."
The Council pay an annual subscription to the Central Council for Health Education
and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
WELFARE OF THE ELDERLY
Removal to Suitable Premises of Persons in Need of Care and Attention
Provision is made under Section 47 of the National Assistance Act, 1948 as
amended by the National Assistance (Amendment) Act, 1951, for securing the necessary
care and attention in suitable hospital or other place (e.g., residential accommodation
provided under Part III of the Act) for persons who:—
(a) are suffering from grave chronic disease or being aged, infirm or physically
incapacitated, are living in insanitary conditions, and
(b) are unable to devote to themselves and are not receiving from other persons
proper care and attention.
A number of cases, mainly elderly persons living in poor conditions, were brought
to my notice but with the help of the social and visiting services and voluntary admission
to hospital or home, each case resolved itself and I am pleased to report that it was not
necessary to invoke the provisions of the section.
A case typical of the problems brought to the attention of the department was
that of an independent Scot living alone in a furnished room. To make matters worse,
as it were, he was a member of the medical fraternity, who are notoriously bad
patients. Information which was confirmed by a subsequent visit reached the department
that this venerable gentleman was ill and living in insanitary conditions. He
was undoubtedly in need of care and attention and although he promised to enter
hospital next day, I initiated statutory action to ensure this, having learned from
bitter experience not to rely on promises made under these circumstances. That night,
taken by a friend "to the local," he collapsed in the street on the way home and was
removed by ambulance to hospital. There he was found to be seriously ill and,
in fact, died seven days after admission.
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