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
Southall 1939
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southall]
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MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE.
Health Visiting.
The district is divided into five health visitors' areas, in which each officer does
all health visiting work, including infectious diseases, home-visiting, and visiting schools
in connection with infectious disease, but excluding child life protection visiting which,
as heretofore, is done by the senior health visitor, who is also Child Protection Visitor.
The work done by health visitors during the year is as shown below:—
Table No. 12.
Summary of Health Visiting Work for the year 1939.
| Visits to infants— | |
| First visits | 754 |
| Re-visits | 2,384 |
| Visits to children— | |
| First visits | 21 |
| Re-visits | 3,639 |
| Visits to expectant mothers | 513 |
| Visits for infectious disease | 526 |
| Visits to schools | 45* |
| Child Life Protection visits | 300 |
| Miscellaneous visits | 222 |
| Removals | 345 |
| No access | 746 |
| Total | 9,495 |
| * At these visits a total of 1,771 children were examined. | |
Child Life Protection.
The general arrangements as outlined in the report for 1934 remain unaltered.
The Council has decided that the register of foster mothers and children should
be reviewed annually. This expedites the removal from the register of foster mothers
who do not wish to take in further foster children, and so keeps the register in a live
condition.
Below are the statistical particulars for the year:—
Table No. 13.
| (1) | Number of foster parents on register— | |
| (a) At the beginning of the year | 44 | |
| (b) At the end of the year | 38 | |
| (2) | Number of foster parents receiving foster children— | |
| (a) At the beginning of the year | 29 | |
| (b) At the end of ;the year | 24 | |
| (3) | Number of children on the register— | |
| (a) At the beginning of the year | 44 | |
| (b) At the end of the year | 33 | |
| (4) | Number of children received by foster parents during the year | 79 |
| (5) | Number of foster children— | |
| (a) Reached the age of nine during the year | Nil | |
| (b) Removed during the year to different foster parents or to children's societies | 61 |