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
Hillingdon 1966
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hillingdon]
This page requires JavaScript
35
Personal Health Services
Health education has been given to other groups such as youth clubs and senior pupils in the
Borough's schools.
The revised training for health visitors is now fully established, and six students, one of whom was
sponsored by the Borough, received their practical training under the supervision of the field work
instructors. All the students were successful in their examinations. In August, two of them joined the
health visiting staff, and in September, five new students, all sponsored by the Borough, commenced
their training at Chiswick Polytechnic with arrangements for practical training in the borough under
the guidance of the field work instructors.
The following cases were visited by the Health Visitors during the year:—
| Cases Visited | Number of Cases |
|---|---|
| 1. Children born in 1966 | 4,118 |
| 2. Children born in 1965 | 3,621 |
| 3. Children born in 1961-64 | 8,505 |
| 4. Total number of children in lines 1-3 | 16,244 |
| 5. Persons aged 65 or over | 460 |
| 6. Number included in line 5 who were visited at the special request of a G.P. or hospital | 79 |
| 7. Mentally disordered persons | 74 |
| 8. Number included in line 7 who were visited at the special request of a G.P. or hospital | 24 |
| 9. Persons, excluding Maternity cases, discharged from hospital (other than mental hospitals) | 43 |
| 10. Number included in line 9 who were visited at the special request of a G.P. or hospital | 16 |
| 11. Number of tuberculous households visited | 2 |
| 12. Number of households visited on account of other infectious diseases | 37 |
| 13. Number of tuberculous households visited by tuberculosis visitors | 413 |
HOME NURSING
There is an establishment of 30 home nurses in the Borough, but at the end of the year only 28
were in post. They nursed 3,281 patients during the year, and of these 2,184 were over the age of 65
years. Comparative figures for last year are given in the table overleaf. These were not all chronic cases,
but these figures give some indication of the increasing proportion of geriatric work undertaken in the
home. Obviously, every effort is made to keep elderly persons in familiar surroundings for as long as
possible and thus relieve pressure on hospital beds, but this aim would not be achieved without the
constant devotion to duty shown by the home nurses.
The Council operates a scheme in conjunction with the British Red Cross Society for the loan of
nursing equipment, and during the year 1,692 loans were made.