London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Harrow 1968
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Harrow]
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Clink Nurses
All ten base clinics have a state registered nurse attached to assist the
health visitor with clinic duties and allow the health visitors more time for
their specialised work in the community.
The clinic nurses are in charge of minor ailment sessions, immunisations,
toddlers' clinics, cytology clinics, school hygiene inspections, foot
inspections, treatment of verruca, and routine medical examinations at
schools.
Vision testing with the Keystone Telebinocular Vision Screener is
carried out by the clinic nurse. She also helps with routine visiting of
the elderly under the supervision of the health visitor.
Section 25 — Home Nursing
Establishment
The total establishment of home nurses at 31st December 1968, was
as follows:-
Superintendent
Deputy Superintendent
Home Nurses (whole-time equivalent) 22
The home nursing staff continued to attend patients in their homes and carried out all types of nursing care ordered by the patients' doctors and as the following tables show, completed another busy year, with a rise of 208 in the total number of persons nursed compared with 1967, but a reduction in the actual number of visits.
| 1967 | 1968 | |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Total number of persons nursed during the year | 1,922 | 2,130 |
| (2) Number of persons under 5 years old at first visit | 46 | 50 |
| (3) Number of persons 65 years or over at first visit | 1,286 | 1,467 |
| (4) Total number of visits made during the year | 62,915 | 62,745 |
| (5) Number of visits of over one hour's duration | 1,829 | 1,872 |
| (6) New cases referred during the year | 1,300 | 1,495 |
Type of illness involving the above visits
| Category | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical | 541 | 1,354 | 1,895 |
| Surgical | 104 | 104 | 208 |
| Infectious diseases | — | — | — |
| Tuberculosis | 3 | 8 | 11 |
| Maternal complication | — | 16 | 16 |
| Total | 648 | 1,482 | 2,130 |