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(b) Medical Examinations.
During the year twelve medical examinations were
carried out in respect of entrants to the Council's service.
In addition three medical reports were issued
relating to employees absent from duty for more than a short
period through sicknoss. Although visits are made on
occasion to the homes of sick employees, such visits are only made
after contact has been established with the family doctor,so
that misunderstandings can be avoided. In these particular
instances it was only necessary to get into touch with the
general practitioner concerned, when full information was
readily forthcoming. This is another example of the
valuable co-operat_on which can and should exist between the
Medical Officer of Health and the general practitioner.
(c) Accidents in the Home.
As the Public Health Department is keenly interested
in any factors which influence health, or which are likely to
be followed by a state of ill-health, the question of accidents
in the home has received attention.
After full consideration, I came to the conclusion
that accidents in the home was a subject which properly
belonged in the main to the personal health services, and
which should primarily be considered as part of my duties as
Area Medical Officer. Although the Urban District Council
has always shown a keen interest in this most important
subject, it will be appreciated that, to avoid over-lapping,
a problem of this nature and magnitude must of necessity be
given the force of single direction As I am Area Medical
Officer as well as Medical'Officer of Health for Friern
Barnet and could, therefore, easily correlate the campaign,
this presented no difficulty.
During the year we accepted the offer of an attractive
booklet setting out in considerable detail hazards in the
home, what they were and how they could be avoided. This
booklet was published on behalf of the Area Health Committee,
but had a cover design incorporating the Coat of Arms of the
Boroughs and Urban District Councils included in Area No. 2.
Distribution of tho booklet, which proved most acceptable to
parents and residents generally, was undertaken by the Public
Health Department, the Area Health Office, clinics and
libraries.
I have also taken the opportunity to refer to
accidents in the home,, indeed to accidents generally, in various
articles which I wrote for "Better Health" and which, with the
usual courtesy of the Editors of our local press, have
appeared from time to time in local papers.
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