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 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Willesden]
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To Health Centre 4.
Orthopaedic Work for approximately half of Willesden.
Diphtheria immunisation is at present a central service carried on at existing Health Centre 1
but it would be better if this service were performed at each Health Centre and this report provides
accordingly.
The work, therefore, which is common to all Health Centres includes the following:—
Medical examination and treatment of public elementary scholars.
Vocational medical examination for public elementary scholars. (Not done at present.)
Medical examination and certain treatments for secondary pupils. (Treatments at present
are confined to ophthalmic treatment by the Middlesex County Council.)
Ante-natal supervision and examinations. (These examinations at the present time are not
fitted in with the work of district midwives and will necessarily increase when this
arrangement is operative.)
Infant Welfare to include toddlers. (Little systematic examinations of toddlers is carried
out at present. Only 495 such examinations in respect of an estimated total of 9,00010,000
children 1-5 years were performed in 1937.)
Mothercraft. (Incompletely dealt with. Sessions are available only 2 or 3 times a week at
existing Health Centre 2.)
Post-natal examinations. (Regular sessions and examinations not provided at present.)
Test feeding. (Limited by accommodation.)
Nursery. (Limited by accommodation.)
Pharmacy.
Artificial sunlight. (None at existing Health Centre 2.)
Breathing exercises. (None at existing Health Centre 2.)
Diphtheria Immunisation.
Dental Work other than Dental Mechanics.
Medical Work.—In assessing the medical work to be undertaken at the new Health Centres
regard has been given to the work indicated above and the following further factors have been taken
into account:—
(1) That while the total number of cases personally seen by the doctor—i.e., cases
relating to Cleansing, Throat, Nose and Ear conditions, Minor Ailments, Expectant Mothers,
Nursing Mothers and Infant Welfare—has increased, the proportion of cases attending
personally seen by the doctor has fallen greatly during the past 8 years, maternity and child
welfare cases being seen at the expense of the school cases.
The following table shows this:—
| M.C.W. | S.M.S. | Total. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attendances for H.C. Doctor. | Personally seen. | % | Attendances for H.C. Doctor. | Personally seen. | % | Attendances for H.C. Doctor. | Personally seen, | % | |
| 1930 | 54,257 | 40,461 | 75% | 37,380 | 19,515 | 52% | 91,637 | 59,976 | 65% |
| 1931 | 68,569 | 45,638 | 67% | 45,252 | 17,114 | 38% | 113,821 | 62,752 | 55% |
| 1932 | 76,002 | 49,044 | 65% | 48,238 | 17,817 | 37% | 124,240 | 66,861 | 54% |
| 1933 | 77,449 | 47,569 | 61% | 51,050 | 18,240 | 36% | 128,499 | 65,809 | 51% |
| 1934 | 80,948 | 45,999 | 57% | 42,947 | 16,375 | 38% | 123,895 | 62,374 | 50% |
| 1935 | 84,112 | 48,651 | 58% | 44,023 | 14,631 | 33% | 128,135 | 63,282 | 49% |
| 1936 | 87,816 | 52,784 | 60% | 47,901 | 14,647 | 31% | 135,717 | 67,431 | 50% |
| 1937 | 99,553 | 56,701 | 57% | 53,033 | 13,962 | 26% | 152,586 | 70,663 | 46% |
(2) That although the school attendances are likely to be increased by the provision
of a greater number of health centres, the increase of school attendances will not be material
as school children on the whole have not the same difficulty in getting to the Centres as
mothers and babies—a 10 percent, increase has been allowed.
(3) That with Centres nearer to the population the attendances of maternity and child
welfare cases will increase both in respect of numbers of cases and in frequency of attendances
of such cases.