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Health Visiting
Health visitors, supported by clinic nurses, have continued to carry out their routine
and statutory duties including home visiting, health education and attendance at clinic sessions,
the schools and the chest clinic.
DEVELOPMENT SESSIONS
At five Health Services Clinics pre-school children who are referred by doctors, health
visitors or psychiatrists have an opportunity for constructive play under the guidance of trained
nursery nurses. The need is so great that only children who are suffering from physical, mental
or social handicaps or have no chance to mix with their own age groups, or whose home conditions
are unsuitable, can at present be admitted. A remarkable feature of these sessions is the rapidity
with which basically normal children lose abnormal behaviour even with only a few sessions of
controlled play.
REGISTERED PLAY GROUPS
In the present economic state it is not possible for the Local Authority to extend
facilities for pre-school children but there has been a large increase this year in the number of
registered play groups and childminders which make a contribution towards filling this need.
Under the Nurseries and Childminders Act, 1948 health visitors have a statutory obligation to
visit premises and persons registered under the above Act for the purpose of supervision and
giving advice.
The groups are organised by mothers, most of whom have had no experience or training
in this type of work. However, leaders of these play groups need to be more than good mothers.
They must be keenly interested in children in general, ready to listen to their problems and talk
sensibly with them on any subject that happens to occupy their minds.
Therefore, with the help of the Education Department, we organised a course for play
group leaders and helpers. This was held early this year at the Hurst Road Health Centre and was
extremely well attended throughout. The course consisted of ten evening lectures and discussions
on various subjects, the most important being:-
(a) the needs of children and how a nursery group can help their development
(b) the importance of play and the different types of play material
(c) planning the play session
(d) the growth of speech and language
(e) techniques of story-telling and reading
(f) music and its importance to children
(g) some common problems of early childhood.
"CO-ORDINATED SOCIAL WORK IN SCHOOLS"
This is a pilot scheme which was brought into operation in three schools in the borough
in September. Two health visitors visit these selected schools at least once a week to discuss
with the head and his staff behaviour difficulties of children who give cause for concern. As a
result the health visitors have so far visited 60 families to give help with the following:-
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