London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Romford 1962
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Romford]
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of entry and can only enter by invitation) goes to show the good
personal relationship that has been built up over the years.
During 1962, the Health Visitors paid over 24,500 visits as follows:—
| Expectant Mothers | 372 | 345 |
| Children under 1 year of age | 7,848 | 7,138 |
| Children aged 1 and under 2 years | 4,761 | 4,224 |
| Children aged 2 and under 5 years | 6,234 | 5,600 |
| Tuberculous households | 3,658 | 3,780 |
| The aged | 571 | 229 |
| Other cases | 1,360 | 1,321 |
In addition to these visits, the Health Visitors attended 1,031
clinic sessions, and the majority also carried out the duties of School
Nurse.
At the end of the year, 18 Health Visitors were employed in this
Health Area, compared with 19 at the end of 1961.
In my report for last year, I referred to the trend of increasing
care being required for elderly and infirm in their own homes. This
is illustrated by the increase in the number of visits paid by Health
Visitors to the aged in 1962 as compared with 1961.
Vaccination and Immunisation
Smallpox Vaccination. At the commencement of the year,
following the incidence of cases of smallpox amongst immigrants
from Pakistan in other parts of the Country, hundreds of requests
for vaccination were received. Subsequently the confirmation of a
diagnosis of smallpox in a resident of an area adjacent to Romford
increased the demand for vaccination to several thousand a day.
surgeries. Every effort was made to vaccinate all those who requested it and the following figures, with those of 1961 for comparative purposes, illustrate the great increase over a normal year-
| Number of Primary Vaccinations at Clinics | 12,125 | 320 |
| Number of Primary Vaccinations by General Practitioners | 16,527 | 1,038 |
| 28,652 | 1,358 |
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