View report page

58
Present Group—23 girls, seven of whom intend nursing, the
others dental research, radiotherapy, laboratory technician,
farming, physical training and teaching.
June, 1956—Pre-Nursing Part I Examination held at Whipps
Cross Hospital—three girls entered, all successful.
1956-1957—Five girls to Hospital.
Girls from Pre-Nursing Course now in final year of Nurse
Training—4.
Former pupils who have entered Nurse Training—3 incl.: 1 in
Final Year.
(viii) "Better Health."—This journal was circulated each month
to schools by the Borough Education Officer.
(b) Problem Families.
A joint circular, issued on 31st July, 1950, on children who
were neglected or ill-treated in their homes, suggested various
administrative measures which could be taken to avoid enforced
removal of children from their homes. One of the recommendations
was that local authorities should designate one of their officers
to be responsible for securing
"full co-operation among all the local services, statutory
and voluntary, which are concerned with the welfare of
children in their own homes,"
and that regular meetings of all concerned should be held to review
cases.
In November, 1954, the Ministry of Health issued Circular
27/54 to local health authorities, in which it was said :—
"Problem families thus tend to reproduce themselves in
the next generation and cost the community an expense out of
all proportion to their numbers. Action to break this vicious
circle by preventive measures would, in the Minister s view, be
a proper exercise of the local health authorities'' powers under
Section 28 of the National Health Service Act, 1946. The
health visitor whose work now extends to cover the whole
field of prevention of ill-health, including prevention of mental
ill-health, is, by reason of her close contact with families with
young children, particularly well placed to recognise the early
signs of failure in the family which may lead to disruption
of normal life with consequent risk to the mental health of
the children."
The need to correlate the action of all the agencies referred to
above became so pronounced during 1956 that at the end of the
year a conference was called in order to discuss what appeared to
be the worst cases that were known. Nineteen representatives of