London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Haringey 1965

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Haringey]

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Toddlers Clinics
These are separate sessions held for children between two and five years of age, attendances
at which are normally arranged by appointment.

The following table give details of attendances at the individual clinics:-

Name of CentreNumber of sessions heldTotal attendancesNumber of cases seen by M.O.Average attendances per session
Allison Hall2856554020.2
Church Road2435331314.7
Fortis Green3238838812.1
Hornsey Town Hall4881079216.9
Mildura Court5078463015.7
Stroud Green2336336315.8
The Chestnuts4977277215.7
Lordship Lane5267867-813.0
Park Lane4970670614.4
Somerset Road515065069.9
White Hart Lane1924424412.8
TOTALS4256169593214.5

Daily Guardian Scheme
This voluntary scheme for registration and supervision by health visitors of mothers willing to mind
one or two children is a most valuable addition to the day care of children. There are always some names
to offer to those who are looking for a daily guardian; the main trouble is that they are not always in the
right place and not at a convenient distance from the child's own home.
Number of Daily Guardians on register 148
Number of Daily Guardians minding Children 79
Number of Children being minded 90
Total number of Children minded during the year 233
Total number of days minded 24924
Day Nurseries
All four day nurseries are approved as training schools for student nursery nurses. The course of
training is for two years. Park Lane, Stonecroft and Plevna have two new students each year, but because
of the limited facilities only one student can be accommodated at White Hart Lane Nursery. Students are
away from the nurseries at the Technical College on two days each week for theoretical training.
Staff absences due to sickness lower the actual ratio of staff to children, to what at times must be
considered a dangerously low level. Students or Inadequate number of staff may at times be left to
supervise too high a proportion of children.
The trend over recent years of children being admitted from broken homes or homes where there is
only one parent, continues to be the main reason for admission. It is recognised that these children
show more signs of emotional disturbance than the child with a normal home background and therefore
need specialised treatment. Allchildrentaketimetoadjusttonewsurroundingsandneed varying amounts
of individual attention. The maladjusted or partially-hearing child must of necessity receive special
attention. There were 173 new admissions during the year. All these factors at times produce evidence
of overstrain on the staff. The remedy may be that along with many other local health authorities,
students should be considered as supernumerary, as well as the exclusion of the matron from the ratio of
staff to children, as recommended in the Ministry of Health Circular.
39
The followina table shows the attendance at individual nurseries durina the vear:-