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Health education has once again been
prominently featured in the health services of Friern
Barnet, In this connection the remarks set out in
the introduction to my Annual Report for 1957 still
stand. Although the cost of providing a health
education programme in a district such as Friern
Barnet is extremely small, we have never lost any
opportunity which is likely to promote a better
understanding, both of the value of positive health
and of the health services provided either by the
Urban District Council or by the County Council in
Friern Barnet. I would particularly mention the
excellent work put in by Mr. Jackaman and the Public
Health Staff in arranging regular exhibits in the
kiosk outside the Town Hall. I am aware that I
have mentioned this before, but I am equally sure that
the Council would wish me to pay tribute once again to
what has become a permanent and very live feature of
health education in Friern Barnet.
During the year, I had the privilege of
being appointed a member of the Medical Advisory Committee
to Friern Hospital. This allowed me to gain an
extremely useful insight into the working of this large
mental hospital which, together with its ancillary
hospital (Halliwick Hospital), provides in such large
measure for the specific needs of the district in the
field of mental illness. As will be known, the new
Mental Health Act which will shortly be placed on the
statute book envisages a much closer liaison between
mental hospitals and local authorities. We are all
watching this aspect of the expanding problem of mental
health with the keenest interest. I will therefore
report any fresh developments from time to time to the
Public Health Committee. Meanwhile, I will maintain
the closest possible liaison with Friern Hospital.
As I am also a member of the Medical Advisory
Committee to the Northern Group of Hospitals, I am
equally able to learn at first hand what is going on in
the general hospital world in this Area and am able to
establish a closer link than would otherwise be possible
between our hospitals and the local authority. I feel
most strongly that this link is in every way essential.
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