View report page

14
which I am confronted would be increased very greatly both in number
and in type.
I must make special mention of the Annual Conference of the
Old People's Welfare Association which I attended for the first time.
Although of short duration I can say completely sincerely that the
content of the Conference was of the most instructive and rewarding
order. It provided a most valuable meeting ground for the amateur
and the professional worker in this field and one could not but be very
impressed by the enthusiasm and insight shown by the various voluntary
organisations represented.
This association of the voluntary and the professional based upon
a deep appreciation of the problem involved and with each more
conscious of his obligation than his rights operating freely, achieved
that integration of effort which alone can produce the optimum results.
I would again remark the most important but to some extent
unostentatious tasks carricd out by the Public Health Inspectors in the
field of the aged. I mentioned earlier the number of cases which might
have come to my formal notice but which, owing to the wealth of outexisting
services, did not do so. In this connection it must be remarked
that the District Public Health Inspector does more than his share,
both from a formal and a less formal angle, to secure that legal action
under Section 47 never gets beyond being a last resort.
Home Safety.
Close contact continues to exist between the work of the local
Committee and your Public Health Department.
Laundry Service for the Incontinent—Section 84, Public Health Act.
1936.
Advantage is taken of this Section legally to provide this type of
service.
The object of the service is to fill a gap which exists in a relatively
few households unfortunately placed in that normal laundry facilities
are not the most appropriate vehicle for dealing with the material
accruing largely from the presence of the chronic sick within the family.
Such instances are brought to my notice from a wide variety
of sources such as doctors, district nurses, neighbours and the like. The
laundry is collected and delivered by the Departmental van and washing
arrangements have been satisfactorily concluded through the kind help
of the local Hospital Management Committee. This is essentially a
service the success of which can never be reflected in mere statistics,
but in achieving a successful solution to a problem which would otherwise
baffle the householders concerned.
Since the service was commenced on 1st November, 1959, the
number of cases availing themselves of it was 17. The number of
garments treated was 2,866. The cost of the service during this period,
i.e. from 1st November, 1959 to 31st December, 1960, was approximately
£190.