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
Sutton 1972
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Sutton]
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Laundry Service for Incontinent Patients Nursed at Home
There is a continued demand for the laundry service for incontinent patients both in the
borough of Merton and in Sutton. The service is greatly appreciated both by the patient and
the relatives as well as by the home nurses.
The total number of cases during the year was as follows :
| Total during year | Number of patients on books at end of year | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 1971 | 1972 | 1971 | |
| London Borough of Sutton | 83 | 89 | 46 | 42 |
| London Borough of Merton | 99 | 99 | 53 | 48 |
Domiciliary Midwifery
The following table gives some indication of the volume of work carried out by the domiciliary midwives :
| No. of domiciliary confinements attended by midwives under NHS arrangements during 1972 | No. of confinements attended by D.M. in Hospital | No. deliverec in institution but discharged to D.M. before 10th day | Total No. of visits made by D.M. | Ante Natal visits by D.M. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Present | Doctor Not Present | Total | |||||||||||
| 1972 | 1971 | 1972 | 1971 | 1972 | 1971 | 1972 | 1971 | 1972 | 1971 | 1972 | 1971 | 1972 | 1971 |
| 21 | 25 | 124 | 133 | 145 | 158 | 148 | 112 | 664 | 614 | 17880 | 17741 | 3814 | 4070 |
The number of domiciliary confinements continues to fall but not significantly compared with
1971.
The Department of Health and Social Security recommend as far as possible that all women
should be confined in hospital but discharged home as soon as possible after delivery. It will
be noted that the number of women discharged from hospital before the tenth day increased
in 1972.
There is increasing emphasis placed on the attendance of domiciliary midwives at deliveries in
hospital and the number of such cases shows a significant increase.
The number of domiciliary midwives is insufficient for full attachment to general medical
practitioners but all have liaison with the groups of practices in the borough.
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