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39
of anyone to undertake this task, though presumably it is one which
could be undertaken by someone working for the Old People's Welfare
Committee.
There is room too for someone with responsibility for ensuring that
those who need help can be put into the way of obtaining it. Neighbours
of those in difficulties quite naturally get through to the Health Department
when they wish to express their concern about the behaviour of a person
or at his being left without anyone looking to his needs, or possibly about
the condition of the premises. Unless these prove to be Section 47 cases,
they cannot really be helped by those in the Public Health Department of
the local authority. An assessment of the position can often be better
made by the health visitor who can then see about medical or nursing
attention or home helps or meals, but often much more needs to be done.
If their situation was just that slight degree worse, these people would be
the responsibility of the Welfare Officer. As however, they fall short of
this stage, he has no responsibility; and yet someone is needed to get
into touch with the relatives, to see that the person has home comforts
and meals, and generally to see that somehow or other he comes back
away from the stage of so nearly needing care and attention. In some
areas health visitors are spending much of their time on the needs of the
elderly. For this sort of work though the trained health visitor is not
needed and even though there were enough health visitors available, it
would be a waste of their skill for them to do work of this sort which can
be carried out by people who have not had the training and experience
of the health visitor. For the blind and the physically handicapped the
welfare authorities have made full arrangements for their registration,
for their supervision, for their occupation. For these elderly people there
should be a comparable scheme. If the duties of the Welfare Officer
cannot be extended to cover these responsibilities, and presumably as
they have not these duties at the moment, legislation would be needed
to impose them on them, then it would seem to be something which
could be undertaken only by an officer engaged by the Old People's
Welfare Committee.
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).
The routine work of the Service is essentially bacteriological and
virological. Except for certain tests closely associated with bacteriological
and virological investigations, chemical and bio-chemical tests and
histological examinations are not performed. The Service normally does
not undertake work that is rightly within the province of the hospital or
clinical pathologist, but is ready to offer help when facilities for such work
are not otherwise available.