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does not result in achieving full establishment but helps to fill the gaps left by Health Visitors reaching retirement
age and those leaving the service to start their own family. Some real incentive to attract the younger Health
Visitors back to the service is required.
Student Nurses
Twenty-five student nurses from the Prince of Wales's Hospital and twenty from the Middlesex Hospital were given
the opportunity of three days observing the Health Visiting, District Nursing and School Health Services.
Midwifery Service
Following the pattern of recent years, domiciliary deliveries again showed a decrease, 229 patients being
successfully delivered at home in 1971.
Domiciliary midwives delivered at the North Middlesex Hospital 25 patients who were considered suitable by the
consultants for early discharge. It is anticipated that a similar arrangement will be introduced during 1972 for
domiciliary midwives to travel to the Whittington Hospital with their own booked personal early discharge
patients, deliver them and accompany them home by ambulance.

Patients nursed at home under the planned early discharge scheme 314
Patients whose discharge was unplanned or who discharged earlier than planned 371
Phenylketonuria
First and repeat Guthrie tests on the early detection of phenylketonuria numbered 955. All were found to be
normal.
Student Midwives Training
Forty-eight students were in training during the year, eight from the Alexandra Maternity Home, sixteen from the
North Middlesex Hospital and twenty-four from the Whittington Hospital.
Obstetric Nurse Training
Thirty students from the City of London Hospital and twenty-eight from the Whittington Hospital were given an
introduction into the work of the district midwife.
Home Nursing Service
Group attachment of district nurses commenced in May 1970 and some minor adjustments to the original scheme
proved necessary to avoid excessive travelling on the part of individual nurses. As the number of general
practitioners greatly exceeds the number of nurses, individual nurses were attached to group practices and groups
of doctors. Nurses endeavour to visit the doctor once weekly.
Where doctors are working alone and there are few referrals, patients are visited and treated by the district nurse
whose practice area is nearest. Inevitably, in these circumstances, frequent and regular visits to individual doctors
are impossible to achieve.
Patients attended were referred from the following sources:—
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