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58
in many cases was unpopular, the persons protesting that it was
the midwife and not they who had summoned the practitioner
and in some cases they pointed out that, being an unforeseen
expenditure, they had not made any preparations towards meeting
it. The Council, therefore, decided that after a date later in the
year no further contributions should be sought from the patients
or from those responsible for their maintenance to meet the
accounts submitted by the practitioners for their services rendered
in response to a medical aid notice issued by the midwives in
accordance with the rules of the Central Midwives' Board.
At their meeting in March, the Committee agreed that all the
appropriate treatment services, including the supply of milk, be
available to foster children living in the district in the same manner
as in the case of other children.
PROVISION OF MILK.
The milk issued by the Council as maternity and child welfare
authority for the later months of the year was but a fraction of
that granted in the earlier months, being almost limited to supplementary
issues of liquid or dried milk to those infants who needed
more than they were being granted under the National Milk
Scheme. The total amount of liquid milk issued during the year
to young children, to expectant or to nursing mothers, was 31,917
gallons and of dried milk 41,578 lbs. The cost of the liquid milk
was £3,414 and of the dried £3,119, a total of £6,533, against which
is to be credited the receipts of £2,629 from the sales of dried milk,
making the net charge of dried milk £490 and the net cost of liquid
and of dried milk £3,904.
The following is a statement of the free milk issues in the
different areas as compared with the attendances, and might be
acccpted, though subject to obvious fallacies, as a very rough
guide of the relative affluence of the different parts of the district.
The figures are for June, 1940, the last month for which the milk
grant was not affected by distribution under the National Scheme.
The figures represent the total attendances at the clinics in that
area (infant welfare centres and ante-natal clinics) figures which
are given in brackets, divided by the number of milk grants, this
number being the number of recipients whether receiving one or
more than one pint of milk. The figures are:—Broadway, 3.8
(263) ; West Harrow, 3.8 (113) ; Roxeth, 4.5 (277) ; Chandos,
5.8 (153) ; Headstone, 6.2 (90) ; Streatfield, 6.2 (181) ; Elmwood,
6.7 (116); Pinner, 7.9 (47) ; St. Albans, 11.7 (69) ; Harrow Weald,
15.5 (29).
Under the National Milk Scheme milk is provided free or at
the cost of 2d. a pint to nursing or expectant mothers and to
children under five years of age. The arrangements came into
force in July when there were 569 beneficiaries obtaining the milk
free of cost and 4,066 obtaining it at a cost of 2d. a pint. The