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With the exception of the Superintendent Nursing Officer and her Deputy and
three of the staff, all the qualified Health Visitors now employed were trained under
the Council's sponsored scheme which commenced in January, 19^9• Under this scheme
suitable candidates holding the S.R.N, and S.C.M. (or part I of S.C.M.) certificates
may be accepted for a period of 9 months training. During this period they are at
present paid a salary at the rate of £315 per annum. In addition, a loan, to cover the
fees of the Training College and Examination of the Royal Sanitary Institute, can be
obtained on request, and is recoverable over an agreed period by monthly payments. When
qualified, the Health Visitor is under contract to remain with the Local Health Authority
for a period of not less than 2 years. In all, a total of 35 Health Visitors have been
trained to date.
As the majority of the Health Visiting Staff were recently qualified, only 4 were
sent for Refresher Courses during the years 1949/1951• During 1952, one Health Visitor
attended a Parentcraft Course.
A valuable step has been taken towards making the Health Visitor the Family
Visitor as envisaged in the National Health Service Act by combining the duties of Health
Visitor and School Nurse; in addition, the visiting of old people and of patients
discharged from hospital is undertaken as the need arises.
Although during 1948 the number of qualified Health Visitors employed was reduced
to 5, which necessitated the employment of Public Health Nurses to undertake some of the
duties, the staff steadily increased through the medium of the sponsored training scheme
already referred to, and by the end of 1952, 25 Health Visitors were employed, 18 of whom
were employed for two-thirds of their time on Health Visiting, and one-third on School
Nursing, giving an equivalent number of 19 Health Visitors.

The expansion of the Health Visitor's duties as envisaged by the Act may mean that
she will have less time to devote specifically to mothers and young children, and this may
make more essential the need to differentiate between those families needing only a few
routine visits and those which will require more concentrated attention.
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