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SECTION 24-HEALTH VISITING
This has been a busy year for the health visiting staff as the scope of the work
has increased; the distinction between physical and mental health is no longer so
marked and to cope with these wider aspects of health visiting health visitors were in
need of further training and only in recent years has there been a trend to include in
the syllabus of Health Visitor Training Centres lectures on the subject of Mental
Health. Some schools have also made it possible for students to attend Mental Hospitals,
the aid of this additional training being in the main to acquire a wider knowledge of
the nature of mental illness which will enable the practising health visitor to recognise
early signs of deviations from the normal. Most of the health visitors in Leyton have
been qualified for several years and were, therefore, most anxious to undergo some form
of mental health training to equip them for this aspect of their duties.
MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING FOR HEALTH VISITORS
An approach was made to Claybury Hospital, and the Area Medical Officer and
Superintendent Health Visitor were invited to a meeting, which was also attended by the
Physician Superintendent of the hospital, senior medical and nursing staff and social
workers, to discuss ways and means of providing mental health training for health
visitors in Leyton.
The hospital staff were most anxious to help and it was agreed with subsequent
Committee approval that as many health visitors as could be spared from their duties
should be allowed to attend the psychiatric lectures given by a consultant psychiatrist
to senior student nurses over a period of one year.
In addition to this course of lectures practical training is given by permitting
the health visitors to attend for periods of 3 - 6 months at weekly patients and staff
group meetings which take place in a day room attached to a ward. Following these
meetings there is a discussion by the staff concerning the patients' treatment and the
possibility of discharge home.
It is in this sphere that the health visitor will be able to help by giving
reports on the patient's home and by advice on the facilities available in the district.
The health visitors who were chosen to attend this course had all been working in
the public health field for many years, and were able to contribute to the discussion
after the meetings and lectures. This two-way exchange of ideas is also of benefit to
the members of the hospital staff and one of the results has been that the Superintendent
Health Visitor has been asked to lecture to the student nurses on the work of the
Health Visiting Service.
These contacts with this Mental Hospital have thus already resulted in closer cooperation
between the Hospital and the Public Health Department in our area. I am sure
that the training which is being provided and the resulting liaison with the Hospital,
will bring nearer the day when we are able to provide a comprehensive service to the
community.
LIAISON WITH GENERAL PRACTITIONERS
The knowledge and experience gained under the above scheme, however, cannot in
itself be complete without closer contact with the General Practitioner who is a key
figure in after-care work.
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