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difficult to arrange. I can only do so, however,
when the family doctor has made an application for the
removal of a patient to a specific hospital and has
been told that this removal could not be affected.
I then add my weight and have, as I have just said,
secured the co-operation of the hospital concerned
in almost every case with which I deal.
I am always only too happy to take this
action as, although it is not a duty of the Medical
Officer of Health to arrange for the admission of a
patient to hospital, other than those already mentioned,
we obviously cannot dissociate ourselves from such an
important aspect of preventive medicine. This, of
course, is one of the drawbacks produced by the
National Health Act 1948, when hospitals previously
under the control of local authorities were brought
under the direction of Regional Hospital Boards.
Previous to 1948, our relations with local authority
hospitals were close and cordial. I must add, of
course, that my own relations with the staff of
surrounding hospitals leave nothing to be desired.
But there must come a time when the present generation
of Medical Officers of Health have passed, and when,
presumably, the gap between the local authorities and
the hospitals serving their districts is not so close
as it still is to-day. One can only hope that this
day is still distant, but it is a possibility which
one cannot avoid.
Care of the Aged.
It would indeed be a truism to say that
care of the aged is assuming a significance which
demands the most urgent attention. In a district
such as Friern Barnet, with its aging population
the fact that 71.53% of total deaths occurred in
persons over the age of 65 is evidence of this
situation - care of the aged assumes particular
importance.
The Public Health Department is always
prepared to help in every way possible while, of course,
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