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I should say, however, that although the operation of the personal
health services in Southgate receives very limited attention
in this Report, the Public Health Department is keenly interested
in the provision of these services, and closely co-operates with the
County Council's staff in their implementation, so far as our
powers permit. Thus, the closest liaison is maintained between the
staffs of the Public Health Department, the School Health Service
and the Area Health Office. Consultations are held as and when
necessary ; combined visits are very often paid to schools and to
individual homes, where it appears that members of two or more
staffs may be concerned. At all times information is readily available
between the three departments mentioned. We thus try to
avoid working in watertight compartments, a state of affairs which
is becoming all too frequent these days, and which is apt to lead
to quite unnecessary wastage of time and energy.
Having regard to the extremely complicated machinery of
local government which we are endeavouring to operate, the
importance of team work cannot be over-emphasised. This team
spirit must extend beyond the Public Health Department itself, and
should include those workers in the same field who may not be
employed by the Borough Council. I am happy to think that this
team spirit does exist in Southgate, that it is helping us to overcome
difficulties which the involved, artificial structure of preventive
medicine as it exists today so often presents.
At the time of writing this Report, it appears that still further
changes are pending. It is not my province to anticipate events, nor
to dogmatise on the suggested alterations. I would merely state
that we will continue to work as in the past, making the best of
conditions as we find them and suggesting improvements, so that
the system in force may operate with the maximum efficiency.
Compared with pre-war years, it must be admitted that this is
becoming a more and more difficult task. Those of us who
remember the part which districts such as Southgate played in
preventive medicine in the past are very sensible of the change,
and regret it sincerely. None the less, as I have stated, it is our
duty as officials to get on with the job, and to see that the system
works to the advantage of the community. This -we will most
assuredly do.
So far as 1952 is concerned, the year was satisfactory. The
statistics relating to the period under review will be found set out
in the body of the report, with appropriate comments. It might
meantime be stated that the Infantile Mortality Rate, i.e., the
number of children born in the Borough who died during the first
12 months of life, set up a new record for the Borough. This
figure (11.61) is considerably lower than any rate yet recorded in
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