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110
The following are the statistics of the work carried out during 1935:—
Total number of individual children aged 12 months to five years
attending the infant welfare centres 2,565
Total number of attendances of children of these ages at the infant
welfare centres 18,024
Total number of attendances of children of these ages at doctors'
consultations at the centres 10,001
Average number of children aged 12 months to five years examined at
each of the doctors' consultations at infant welfare centres ll.5
Considering children as a whole, the average number seen by doctors at each
session at the centres was 21. This number is rather large, and possibly the work
would be improved if a special clinic or clinics were instituted for toddlers.
(b) Medical Staff and Supervision.
One whole-time and seven part-time medical officers are employed at the child
welfare clinics. Of the part-time medical officers, one is employed by the School for
Mothers referred to above. Several of the part-time officers are consultants who are
attached to important hospitals for children in London.
At the present time this staff is adequate, but if new clinics are instituted its
adequacy will have to be reconsidered.
(c) Health Visitors and Home Visiting.
The Council employ eight whole-time health visitors, three of whom have additional
duties apart from those strictly concerned with the visiting of children in their
homes and in attending at child welfare clinics. The School for Mothers, 28, Herbert
Street, employs two health visitors. These two voluntary visitors are employed in
the western portion of the Borough, so that there is no overlapping of the duties of
municipal and voluntary health visitors respectively. Efforts have been made to
standardise the work of these municipal and voluntary workers, and investigations
which are being made by the municipal health visitors should also be carried out by
the voluntary health visitors. In my opinion, however, it would be a distinct
advantage, from the point of view of the co-ordination of the work, if these two
voluntary workers were members of the Public Health Department.
All the Council's health visitors are paid on the London District Council scale of
salaries, viz., commencing at £232 17s. and rising by annual increments of £12—£13
to a maximum of £390 per annum, so that the remarks on salaries which are found in
the circular do not apply so far as the members of the Council's staff are concerned.
Of the two health visitors employed by the voluntary association, one receives £250
per annum, and the other £230 per annum, and there is no recognised scale of increments.