London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Harrow 1965
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Harrow]
This page requires JavaScript
67
organised by the Borough, grants of £935 15s. 0d. have been made to
thirteen voluntary bodies to provide social and recreational facilities for
handicapped Harrow residents.
The Borough has followed the County Council's lead in making all
the arrangements necessary in order to send handicapped people on holidays.
Charges are made according to the individual means. This year most
of the arrangements have been made by the former County Council and
sixty-two persons were sent away.
The Borough services and those provided by voluntary societies are
closely linked and mutual co-operation ensures that the needs of the handicapped
are met whenever possible. The special coach, for example, is
regularly loaned to voluntary organisations to convey registered handicapped
persons to socials and outings organised by the voluntary societies.
In April 1965 there were 400 handicapped persons on the register
and the position on the 31st December 1965 is shown on the chart below:—
| Children under 16 years | Persons aged 16—64 | Persons 65 and over | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deaf with speech | Male | — | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Female | — | — | 1 | 1 | |
| Deaf without speech | Male | — | 5 | — | 5 |
| Female | — | — | — | — | |
| Hard of hearing | Male | — | 2 | — | 2 |
| Female | — | 8 | 4 | 12 | |
| General Classes | Male | 1 | 112 | 58 | 171 |
| Female | 3 | 122 | 137 | 262 | |
| Total | 4 | 251 | 201 | 456 | |
If we are to fulfil our obligation to those who have the misfortune to be
handicapped and ensure that admission to hospital is either delayed or
postponed altogether, then the expansion of these services must be continued
and full use made of the other departmental services designed to
keep people in their own homes along with their relatives and friends.
Residential Homes for the Aged
Mention has already been made of the fact that on its inception the
Borough had at its disposal residential accommodation for two hundred
and eighty-one elderly persons. Of these, only seventy-one male and ninetysix
female beds were suitable for those with physical and mental disabilities