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nursing and medical care, ward accommodation has been provided,
being registered as a nursing home.
Another problem facing some of these elderly people, especially
those living alone, is their feeding. There are arrangements by which
some can be assured of a satisfactory meal at least on some days of the
week. One of these arrangements is the Luncheon Club held at the
Assembly Hall at North Harrow and at Belmont. Another is the Meals
on Wheels Service organised by the W.V.S. by which meals are taken
to some elderly persons confined to their homes.
Companionship is what so many of these particularly need. Some
obtain this by becoming members of the Evergreen Clubs run by the
British Red Cross Society or of the Darby and Joan Clubs provided by
the W.V.S. A Home Visiting Service has been arranged by the Co-ordinating
Officer of the Harrow Old People's Welfare Committee. This body,
on which are representatives of the many agencies in the district that
help the aged in any way, links up the work of these organisations.
The Aged and Chiropody. The local branch of the British Red
Cross Society for some time have made arrangements for the treatment
of the feet of members of their Evergreen Clubs. During the year they
extended the range of this service to include persons in the district needing
this treatment but who could not afford to obtain it by the usual agencies.
A charge of 2s. 6d. per treatment is made.
The Harrow Old People's Welfare Committee applied to the Council
lor a grant in aid of the provision of a chiropody service for needy old
people in the Borough, the intention being that the grant would be used
to extend the chiropody service already provided by the Harrow branch
of the British Red Cross Society. In May the Council applied to the
Ministry of Housing and Local Government for approval to making a
grant of £100 for the current financial year. On being informed that the
Minister did not feel justified in giving his consent to the making of such
a contribution, the Council instructed that further representation should
he made.
Those authorities who have been enabled to provide this service
for those in their districts have found there is a very great need of it.
A failure to help in this way not only means that many elderly persons
go through life with pain and disability, conditions which could be relieved
or alleviated at comparatively little cost, but there is the other aspect that
a successful service would make a substantial contribution to the services
which ultimately have to look after these old people as their crippling
foot conditions limit their mobility and bring nearer the day that they
become bed-ridden. On these grounds alone it would seem to be a
short-sighted policy not to make such a service easily available to those
needing this attention.
LABORATORY SERVICE
The examination of clinical material of public health significance
is carried out free of cost to the patient and to the doctor at the Central
Public Health Laboratory, Colindale Avenue, London, N.W.9 (Tel.
No. Colindale 6041 and 4081).