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Para. 8: Deals with the Health
Visiting Staff and states that "the
success of any efforts to secure
adequate supervision of the health of
young children will depend to a
large extent on the efficiency of the
Health Visiting Staff, and that in
many areas it may be necessary to
increase that staff."
"Local authorities cannot expect
to secure or retain the services of
women properly qualified to discharge
the important duties attached
to the post of Health Visitor, unless
they offer salaries commensurate
with the long and specialised training
these women have to undergo in
order to fit them for this work."
Para. 9: Deals with the establishment
of Day Nurseries and points
out that even with Nursery Schools
there will still be many children
requiring Day Nurseries, viz., the
children of mothers who have to go
out to work, as the Day Nursery
children are kept for longer hours
each day than is possible in the case
of children attending school.
Although the vast majority of the babies attending the
Clinics are breast fed, especially during the first few months of
their lives, yet as pointed out by the Orthopaedic Surgeon
(vide, School report, page 79), many of these breast fed children
show signs of Vitamin D deficiency when about a year old.
The probability is that many modern mothers have not sufficient
Vitamin D in their milk and it is now a routine procedure to
advise each nursing mother to give her baby a teaspoonful of
pure Cod Liver Oil a day. It has, of course, been recognised
for some years that artificial foods are deficient in Vitamins and
this deficiency has always been made good.
The Chiswick Hospital was closed for re-building during
the year and these clinics seriously missed the many facilities
freely offered by this institution. The West Middlesex Hospital
has given us invaluable assistance and will always admit without
delay any children requiring immediate in-patient treatment.
The following were referred to Clinics or Hospitals for
treatment:—
Dental Clinics.—68 mothers, 241 children.
Orthopaedic Clinics,—52 children.
One important factor in this
statement is that it will give
encouragement to the Health
Visiting Staff.
The Health Visiting Service is
comparatively new and has not yet
attained the status it deserves.
There is only one Day Nursery in
the area, viz., that in Bennett
Street, which has accommodation
for 42 children in winter and 45
in summer. The Matron generally
has a waiting list.