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
Willesden 1920
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Willesden]
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Health Visits—Time Required.
The average time required per case to deal with it properly is as follows
| Case. | 1st Visit, minutes. | Re-visit, minutes. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maternity and Child Welfare | Expectant Mother | 30 | 10 |
| Live-birth (including nursing mother) to 1 year | 30 | 15 | |
| Still-birth | 30 | — | |
| Infant Death | 20 | — | |
| Children 1-5 years | — | 10 | |
| Nursing Mother only | — | 5 | |
| Infectious Diseases | Tuberculosis | 30 | 15 |
| Scarlet Fever, Measles, Diphtheria, Whooping Cough, etc | 30 | 10 | |
| Chicken Pox, Mumps | 15 | — | |
| Disinfection | 10 | — | |
| School | Special Cases | 15 | — |
| School Children | 10 | 5 | |
| Cleanliness Inspection Session | 90-120 | variable according to No. needing reexamination | |
'1 he time allocated to each Health Visitor for visiting is 4½ hours daily, 1½ on Saturdays or
24 hours per week.
The number of cases visited per day varies according to :
(1) Type of case dealt with—Maternity and Child Welfare, School, etc., original visit
or re-visit.
(2) Type of people dealt with.
(3) No. of " No entries."
(4) No. of times the Health Visitor gets stopped on her district by parents, relative to
cases which require her attention.
(5) Distance between cases and from Centre.
Having regard to all circumstances the average number of visits per day should be 12.
During the 4 weeks ending 20/3/20, the average number of visits, medical and dental per
day per Health Visitor was 23.
An excessive number of cases under observation gives rise to an excessive amount of clerical
work and results in still further reducing the hours available for visiting.
Absences of Health Visitors.
Absences due to personal illness of the Nursing Staff are frequent.
The following table shows the absences of the Nursing Staff other than holidays (excluding
Home Nurses).
1919.
| No. of whole working days for each Nurse. | No. of whole working days lost by all Nurses. | Total days lost by all Nurses. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinic 1. | Clinic 2. | |||
| 12 weeks ended 22/3/19 | 66 | 77 | 108 | 185 |
| 4 ,, ,, 19/4/19 | 20 ½ | 33½ | 10 | 43½ |
| 17/5/19 | 21 | 25½ | 11½ | 37 |
| ,, 14/6/19 | 20 | 4½ | 24½ | 29 |
| ,, 12/7/19 | 22 | 2½ | 33 | 35½ |
| ,, 9/8/19 | 20 | 164 | 12 | 28½ |
| 6/9/19 | 22 | 11 | 7 | 18 |
| ,, 4/10/19 | 22 | 3½ | 7½ | 11 |
| ,, 1/11/19 | 22 | 4 | 22 | 26 |
| ,, 29/11/19 | 22 | 2½ | 14½ | 17 |
| „ 27/12/19 | 19½ | ½ | 9½ | 10 |
| Total 1919 | 277 | 181 | 259½ | 440½ |
| 1920. | ||||
| 4 weeks ended 24/1 /20 | 22 | 5½ | 26½ | 32 |
| ,, 21/2/20 | 22 | 4 | 39 | 43 |
| „ 20/3/20 | 22 | 13 | 16½ | 29½ |
| Total | 66 | 221 | 82 | 104½ |
It is thus seen that during 1919 there was an average of approximately 2 Health Nurses constantly
off duty, excluding off duty time for holidays. Thus the effective Nursing Staff was two
less than the actual.