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Unregistered Child Minders
Women undertaking the daily care of not more
than two children are not subject to formal
supervision, but health visitors try to keep some
watch on children placed with such unregistered
child minders. To encourage unregistered child
minders to accept some degree of supervision and
to bring the children to the child welfare clinic
once a month, the council, subject to the minder
and the child's mother accepting and abiding by
the scheme, will pay the minder one shilling a day
for each child minded. So far this scheme has not
been popular, and at the end of the year only one
unregistered child minder was participating.
Family Planning
In February 1966 Ministry of Health Circular
5/66 was received in which the minister asked all
local health authorities to review their arrangements
for providing a family planning service and
urging them to improve and develop their local
services to the fullest extent within existing
powers. As the law now stands local health
authorities are empowered to provide family
planning advice and treatment only for women
for whom pregnancy would be detrimental to
health. The private members' bill which was
presented to Parliament on 14th June would
enable local health authorities to make arrangements
for the provision of advice and treatment
in connection with contraception for any women
who seek it without regard to marital status and
to give treatment on social as well as on medical
grounds free of charge to those who cannot
afford to pay for treatment.
Family planning clinics are organised and held
within the borough by the Family Planning
Association in local authority clinics. At the
beginning of the year eight weekly sessions were
being held by the Family Planning Association
at five clinics and no charge was made for the
use of the clinics. By the end of the year the
number of sessions held had been increased to
twelve.
The council accepts financial responsibility for
charges made by the Family Planning Association
in respect of patients referred to them by the
council's medical officers where it was considered
that pregnancy would be detrimental to health.
The times and places of family planning
sessions are publicised throughout the council's
clinics and our medical officers, health visitors,
midwives and home nurses make this information
known in their daily work with families.
There is very close co-operation between this
department and the local branch of the Family
Planning Association and I am a co-opted
member of the executive council of the Family
Planning Association.
Dental Care
The following report on the priority dental service
has been submitted by the chief dental officer,
Mr D H Norman LDS RCS BDS—
The borough dental service has continued to
meet the demand for dental care for expectant
and nursing mothers and pre-school children.
The demand for treatment was less than if all
who actually needed care had asked for it. While
efforts were continually made to stimulate
demand particularly from parents of pre-school
children staffing difficulties made it unrealistic
to launch a large scale campaign. Unfortunately
all the signs are that this undesirable state of
affairs will continue at least for the next few
years.'
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