View report page

11
the close association of your Medical Officer of Health with the
Area administration is a very material contribution.
Care of the Aged.
During the year an Advisory Committee for the Care of the
Aged was formed in the South Essex Health Area and you appointed
a representative upon it. The establishment of this Committee was
evidence of the increasing attention which at present is being given
to this problem. Cases come to notice from time to time in which
an aged person is unable to receive satisfactory care and in which
hospital attention can only be made available after a very considerable
period of waiting. The problem is no simple one, nor is the
solution simple, nor can any one class of person or agency be held
culpable. It is true that there may be a lessening of family ties
which results in the care of an aged parent or relative being regarded
as less of a duty than formerly. It is true that as time goes on small
families will ensure that there are fewer persons who would have
such a duty. Housing circumstances have for some years been of a
most difficult character, placing a considerable strain upon especially
young married people and last but not least it must be said that in
some cases an aged person—viewed in terms of outlook and habit
possibly more than in terms of actual years—is not the easiest of
companions especially in a household comprising, in particular,
young children. It is also apt to be forgotten that the aged viewed
in terms of years have in the course of their lives naturally
developed habits, likes and dislikes and I am not convinced that the
provision of new housing accommodation—which would in many
instances radically uproot them from their old environment—is the
general desire of the aged. Companionship they doubtless need
and it would appear that many of them do enjoy hostel life. If
home conditions are radically unsatisfactory and a move is really
sought, then the provision of houses, hostels and the like, so long
as they are properly sited and provided with amenities, is obviously
an advantage.
It is, however, all too easy to look at the problem of the aged
with the eyes of the not so aged and in so doing a certain amount
of care must be exercised in order that the image be true.
Laboratory Facilities.
There is no change in the facilities which continue to serve the
needs of the district.
On exceptional matters recourse is had to the Public Health
Laboratory at Colindale.
Ambulance Service.
The County Ambulance Service maintains a day and night
service at their Ambulance Station in Billet Lane, Hornchurch.