Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
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The medical officer-in-charge— Dr. Morton—attends once weekly for the purpose
of examining children. The services of a local practitioner are available in an
emergency.
The Maternity and Child Welfare Committee have an arrangement with the
Nursery under which payment (9d. per day) is made for the admission of the children
of necessitous parents upon the recommendation of the health visitor.
Necessitousness under this scheme is determined by the application of the
" milk scale " (see Annual Report for 1933). In the case of parents whose income
falls within the half-price scale, the Council pays 4fd. per day to the Nursery and
the parent 4id. Payments under this scheme amounted, during 1936, to £134 17s. 0d.
In addition a grant of £5 12s. 9d, was made towards the cost of holidays for 12 children.
The numbers of children and attendances since the commencement of this arrangement are shown in the following table:—
Year. | No. of Children. | Attendances. | Total Attendances. | |
---|---|---|---|---|
At full cost. | At half cost. | |||
1929 (11 weeks) | 20 | 394 | 36 | 430 |
1930 | 69 | 4,508 | 124 | 4,632 |
1931 | 64 | 5,316 | 265 | 5,581 |
1932 | 158 | 5,980 | 61 | 6,041 |
1933 | 75 | 5,292 | 164 | 5,456 |
1934 | 62 | 5,562 | 124 | 5,686 |
1935 | 70 | 6,775 | 136 | 6,911 |
1936 | 38 | 3,475 | 242 | 3,717 |
In order to ensure continuity of feeding of the bottle-fed babies attending the
Nursery, milk (wet or dry) is supplied by the Nursery to the mothers of these babies
for feeds at night and during week-ends.
The total number of whole-day attendances at this nursery during 1936 was
17,532, and of half-day attendances 800. The corresponding figures for 1935 were :
whole-day, 19,220; half-day, 1,118.
The resident staff of the Nursery consists of a matron, two nurses, two
probationers, a day nursery teacher and a cook. The cleaning and laundry staff are
non-resident.
Dr. Morton in her report to the Medical Officer of Health on the medical aspect
of the work of this institution for 1936 states as follows :—
Incidence of infectious disease. The year was marked by the prevalence of
measles and also by a minor outbreak of scarlet fever during June and July and by
isolated cases of diphtheria. The following cases occurred during the year:—
diphtheria, 7; scarlet fever, 13; measles, 34; chicken pox, 1; pneumonia, 3;
influenza, 5; diarrhoea and vomiting, 2; impetigo, 1; tonsilitis, 2.
Light treatment. During the year 68 children received this treatment for various
conditions.