London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Southgate 1946

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southgate]

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not to mention existing Local Authorities, are not directly represented
by any official on the Regional Hospital Boards appears
regrettable, although intelligent co-operation and understanding
may overcome the obvious difficulties which can be foreseen.
The negotiations which took place during 1946 to transfer our
Isolation Hospital to the County Council for use as a Maternity
Annexe are more fully dealt with on Page 55 of this Report. It
merely remains to be stated here that the Southgate Borough
Council made a definite contribution to local needs, wholly designed
to throw urgently needed maternity beds into the very shallow pool.

Ambulance Facilities.—The following table sets out the total number of journeys carried out by our Ambulance Service during the past four years:—

1946.1945.1944.1943.
General removals to or from hospitals, etc.1,9301,5771,112988
Maternity cases318352394334
Traffic accidents71572947
Other accidents390505436407
2,7092,4911,9711,776

Included in the above figures for 1946 are 196 journeys made at
the request of neighbouring authorities, and 94 Southgate journeys
made by ambulances of other authorities at our request.
From this table it will be seen that the service has grown each
year. The Ambulance Service will, of course, be transferred to the
County Council under the National Health Service Act, but it is to
be hoped that a local Ambulance Station will be retained in
Southgate, and that our present personnel will have the opportunity
of continuing their excellent work.
It became obvious during 1946 that additions to the Ambulance
Staff would be required in the very near future. Arrangements to
re-organise the service on a three-shift basis were begun, but had
not been completed by the end of the year. Arrangements were
also made whereby cases of infectious disease could be conveyed to
the Finchley, Hornsey, Wood Green and Friern Barnet Isolation
Hospital, when the time came for Southgate patients to be admitted
there.
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