London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

View report page

West Ham 1950

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for West Ham]

This page requires JavaScript

SECTION 21: HEALTH VISITING,
Further progress was made during the year in building up the Health Visiting staff
through the Council's Student Training Scheme. At the 31st December, 1950# the following
staff were employed;-
20 Health Visitors plus 1 Health Visitor at Avenons Road Clinic
(South West Ham Health Society).
^ Student Health Visitors.
In August, Miss Hazelden, the first holder of the newly created post of Deputy
Superintendent Health Visitor, took up her duties; she formed a most welcome addition to
the staff.

HOME VISITS. The home visits paid by the Health Visitors are set out below:-

First Visits 1950.Total Visits 1950.
To Expectant Mothers1,012l,810
To Children under 1 year3,79912,816
To Children 1-5 years1,41926,222
Special Visits-2,166

This means that each child under 1 year of age received approximately ^ visits
during the first year, and that children aged 1-5 years received between 1 and 2 visits
per year. As would be expected from the substantial increase in staff this was a very
material improvement on the service which was the best that could be provided last year.
At that time the children under one received only 3 visits per year and those between 1-5
years of age had no more than a single visit.
In June, 1950, a scheme was introduced for maintaining closer liaison between the
health visiting service and the hospitals to which West Ham children are admitted. This
took the form of regular visits of two of the Health Visitors, one from the north of the
borough and one from the south, to certain of the Paediatrician's ward rounds at Whipps
Cross and Plaistow Hospitals. They were able to convey to the Paediatrician at first hand,
in a way which could never have been done by the cold formality of a letter, a great deal
of information regarding the children's home circumstances which was of great value as a
guide to treatment* They also visited after the children had returned home, to help the
parents in carrying out the Paediatrician's instructions for after-care, eventually
handing the case over with full information to their colleague who was normally responsible
for the particular area in which the child resided. An unexpected and pleasing feature
of this scheme was the eager way in which the parents received the Health Visitors while
their children were still itf hospital: they clearly welcomed the news of their children's
progress while gladly giving the information sought by the Paediatrician in return.
SECTION 25: HOME NURSING,
The arrangement whereby the Essex County Council provided a service from the Beachcroft
Nurses' Training Home for that part of the borough lying to the north of the District
Railway Line was continued during the year. It is fortunate that this "key" training home
of the South West Essex area is situated near the borough boundary and that the County
Authorities were willing to extend its services so far into the borough on the "appointed
day"; for the difficulties in the Council's own service, which were reported last year,
37