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In 1937 our Health Visitors paid a total of 6,251 visits to homes
during the year. In 1946 this number had fallen to 4,241, and
although in 1947 the number had again risen to 6,922—the highest
total recorded in Southgate—it must be remembered that, during
this year, additions were made to our Health Visiting staff. The
inadequate number of home visits is not the result of any falling off
of enthusiasm, lack of concentration, or carelessness. It merely
illustrates the inadequate proportion of time which the modern
Health Visitor has at her disposal for this very important aspect of
her work. This is all the more unfortunate when it is remembered
that Maternity and Child Welfare must always be regarded as
essentially a home service. We must never allow ourselves to confine
our activities within the walls of a Clinic or Day Nursery. Advice
in the home, particularly in the very early days and weeks of a
child's life, is vitally important. It is within the narrow confines
of a child's home that the groundwork upon which the future depends
must be laid; it is here that advice is most needed and bears the
greatest fruit. If we do not give this problem adequate attention,
we cannot truthfully say that our work is adequately performed.
The solution to the problem lies, of course, in additional staff.
Bearing in mind the magnificent results so far achieved, it is surely
logical to proceed one step further, and to ensure that the staff
employed is adequate to cope with all the calls made upon their
training and experience. I should personally have liked to see this
obstacle overcome before the Borough Council handed over its
responsibilities to the County Council. That it remains is no reflection
on the Borough Council; it merely means that one significant
problem still awaits solution.
In this my last Annual Report in its present form, I should like
to pay a most sincere tribute to the work of the Voluntary Helpers.
As I indicated in my survey of Maternity and Child Welfare, to
which reference has already been made, these ladies began their
work in 1917, and have continued to give unselfish service since
that date. Our Borough owes them the deepest debt of gratitude,
not only for their work during those early years, but for the admirable
way in which they responded with unfailing zest and loyalty
to the increasing demands made upon their services. To say that
they kept abreast of all new developments and extensions to the
service is to indicate in a word what they have meant to the mothers
and children of Southgate. It is sincerely to be hoped that their
work will continue, and that it will be fully recognised as a truly
valuable adjunct to the statutory services provided.
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