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15
Obstetric Students
Medical students from Kingsbury Maternity Hospital, St. Mary's and Central Middlesex Hospitals
continued to spend one day each with the domiciliary midwives to observe their work in the care of mothers
booked for home confinements and planned early discharge.
HEALTH VISITING

(Figures for 1970 in brackets)
The decrease in the number of visits made was in part the result of increased demands on the health
visitors' time of other aspects of their work. They were invited to attend case conferences in hospitals and
with other Borough Services, and there is increasing liaison with hospitals and general practitioners. Also in
areas where there are mutil-racial communities, much time was spent in helping new-comers who have not
only language difficulties but other problems of adjustment because of different cultural backgrounds.
There were no additional attachments to general practices which remained at four, three within
the Chalkhill Health Centre and one outside.
Attachment to hospital diabetic, geriatric and paediatric units continued and proved beneficial to
both hospital and local authority staffs.
The health visitors have responded to requests to take part in a number of surveys in association
with research studies being carried out by various authorities.
Many demands were made on the staff to assist with providing students with experience of local
authority health services. During the year, the health visiting staff accepted 238 students for observation visits.
The majority of these were hospital student nurses and midwives, the remainder being medical students and
post-registration nursing students.
Training
The Superintendent Health Visitor attended a five day course arranged by the London Boroughs'
Training Committee on "Supervision and Consultation". The Deputy Superintendent attended a middle
management course arranged by the London Boroughs' Training Committee, and one Senior Health Visitor
attended a management training course arranged by the Chiswick Poyltechnic. Two health visitors attended
fieldwork instructors courses at Chiswick Polytechnic and the Polytechnic of North London and two attended
a post certificate course arranged by the Health Visitors' Association. One senior health visitor was sent on
a course of 8 sessions on birth control methods at Upton Hospital, Slough and is able to assist in the inservice
training of staff. Five health visitors attended miscellaneous short courses of study appropriate to their
work.
Five student health visitors were sponsored for training for the Health Visitors' Certificate course
which commenced at Chiswick Polytechnic in September.
DISTRICT NURSING
Under Section 25 of the National Health Service Act 1946, it is the duty of every local health
authority to provide nurses for persons who require nursing in their own homes. The establishment of nurses
is 49 plus 2 State Enrolled nurses. The nurses work in close liaison with general practitioners and hospitals.
They also introduce student and pupil nurses to community care by taking them on their rounds.
Seven part-time bathing attendants are employed. They work under the supervision of the nurses
and receive in-service training to enable them to work with nurses in small teams and obtain greater job
satisfaction.
Two thousand four hundred and forty-one new patients were referred during the year and the nurses
paid a total of 112,340 visits to all patients. Five thousand two hundred and sixty-nine visits were paid by
bathing attendants. At the end of the year, 1,225 cases were on the register.
General Practitioner Attachments
One new liaison was started during the year, making a total of 17 attachments and one liaison operating
in the Borough. The schemes work well for patients, nurses and doctors. One thousand six hundred and
ninety-seven treatments were given in general practitioners surgeries under the schemes.