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TO THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN AND COUNCILLORS OF THE BOROUGH OF LEYTON
Mr.Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my report on the health of the people of Leyton during
the year 1962 as required by the Minister of Health. This also includes sections on the
County Health Services (National Health Service Act, 1946, Part III) and the School
Health Service.
As I took up my appointment late in the year the services described in this report
were in the first months under the direction of my predecessor Dr.G.T.Crook and then
after he left of my deputy Dr.Mary Gilchrist, who once again carried the responsibility
of the department as she has done for several quite lengthy periods in the past. I
should like to record my appreciation of their work and in particular to Dr.Gilchrist
for her help since I took up office.
The rate of decrease in the total population of the borough slowed up a little to
be 92,970 at mid-year but the birth rate at 14.99 per 1,000 population continued its
rise of recent years. At the same time the increasing length of life has increased the
number of old people in need of help, so that the two extremes of life which are the
principle concern of the Health Department continue to put pressure on the services
provided.
In the case of some services this pressure forces itself upon one's attention
because the patient seeks aid but in other cases all the initiative must be taken by
the local authority.
Examples of the first are the Midwifery and Chiropody Services both of which have
been under strain. The over-pressed Maternity Hospitals are unable to book more mothers
and urge the Local Authorities to take more of the work onto the district, providing
for more mothers to be confined at home and more to be discharged from hospital early.
The need must be met somewhere and the rising birth rate is forcing a choice between
overworking the staff or allowing a less comprehensive standard of care. The desire of
all of us to increase the amount of education in aspects of health of a type which the
midwife is particularly suited to giving will have to remain a desire which cannot be
fully met in the immediate future.
Similarly the demand on the Chiropody Services due to increasing numbers of
applications combined with shortage of staff is making a less comprehensive standard
of care inevitable. The intervals between appointments have had to be increased further
than the staff consider desirable and at the end of the year had reached a point at
which the only possible answer was to restrict the service to priority groups. We are
caught in a vicious circle as patients unable to obtain Local Authority treatment seek
private treatment, which pushes up the amount of work available privately and makes the
shortage of applications by chiropodists for Local Authority work even more acute.
In cases where the initiative must be taken by the Local Authority a danger which
must be watched at every turn is the possibility of a gradual falling off in the
sensitivity of the department to those in need who do not seek aid. The aged and infirm,
those under mental strain, or under temporary stress, can all be greatly helped by the
staff of the Health Department. Though often the General Practitioner may initiate the
provision of help, in many cases he has not been recently consulted by the patient and
has no up-to-date knowledge of the situation.
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