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 1955
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Willesden]
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41
HOME NURSING
The Area Health Office is responsible for the day to day administration of the Home Nursing
Service in Willesden. The nurses are non-resident and receive many applications from hospitals and
general practitioners by telephone in their own homes.
The County Council runs a district nurse training home at 17, and 19, Park Avenue, Willesden.
The candidates assist the home nurses in Willesden and gain experience in home nursing; they are included
in the establishment of the home nurses, and some are recruited into the service when they have finished their
course.
The home nurses work in close co-operation with general practitioners, who make the majority of
the requests for home nursing care for their patients; many London hospitals also apply for home nursing
care. The home nurses give various injections, general attention and care to medical and surgical cases,
and nursing care to the aged and infirm.
The establishment of home nurses has been maintained throughout the year.
Home Nurses Establishment
| Nurses | As at 1.1.55 | As at 31.12.55 |
|---|---|---|
| Whole time | 19 | 19 |
| Part-time | 7 | 6 |
| Candidates | 6 | 8 |
| Total whole time equivalent | 26 | 27 |
Work of Home Nurses
| No. of New Cases | Total No. of home visits paid | No. of cases on register at end of year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | Male | Female | |||
| Medical | 1,242 | 2,045 | 95,022 | 304 | 610 | |
| Surgical | 262 | 349 | 15,061 | 51 | 73 | |
| Infectious diseases | 9 | 14 | 132 | 2 | 3 | |
| Tuberculosis | 54 | 39 | 3,710 | 20 | 14 | |
| Maternal complications | – | 26 | 251 | — | 1 | |
| Others | – | 3 | 23 | — | — | |
| Total | 1,567 | 2,476 | 377 | 701 | ||
| Totals: | 1955 | 4,043 | 114,199 | 1,078 | ||
| 1954 | 4,235 | 118,280 | 1,204 | |||
SMALLPOX VACCINATION
Some vaccinations are done by the staff at the health clinics, but most of them are carried out by general practitioners. The number of children under 1 year of age vaccinated, represents 33.1 of the total live births for the year.
| Under 1 year | 1 year | 2-4 years | 5-14 years | 15 years and over | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of persons primarily vaccinated | 836 | 135 | 62 | 42 | 129 | 1,204 | |
| No. of persons re-vaccinated | — | — | 7 | 45 | 310 | 362 | |
| Totals: | 1955 | 836 | 135 | 69 | 87 | 439 | 1,566 |
| 1954 | 1,031 | 84 | 48 | 90 | 477 | 1,730 | |
| Approximate number of children (end of 1955) | 0— 5 | 12,718 | |||||
| 5—15 | 22,457 | ||||||
| 35,175 | |||||||