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
Tottenham 1941
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Tottenham]
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M& C.W./2.
THE HEALTH VISITORS' DEPARTMENT.
The Health. Visitors were kept fully occupied throughout the
year,-not only with the clinics for infant welfare, ante and post natal,
toddlers and dental,-but also with evacuation, hone visiting,(as Child
protection Officers as well as nurses) following up and supervising
all clinic patients, birth notifications etc.
As their duties associated with air raids diminished during the
latter half of the year, so they became more occupied with propaganda,
day nursery supervision and the complexities of coupons.
DETAILS OF HOME VISITING BY HEALTH VISITORS.
| Expectant Mothers | Children under 1 year. | Children Over 1 year. | TOTALS. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First visits | Revisits | First visits | Revisits. | visits | ||
| 1195 | 2855 | 1284 | 6335 | 16175 | 27,844 | |
| Other visits:- infantile deaths | 28 | |||||
| Still Births | 72 | |||||
| Ophthalmia Neonatorum | 4 | |||||
| Pneumonia | 5 | |||||
| Infectious diseases | 1142 | |||||
| Special visits-mothers | 1437 | |||||
| children | 307 | |||||
| 2,995 | ||||||
| 30,832 | ||||||
ANTE-NATAL CLINICS.
| Centre. | Sessions. | Attendances Mothers. | New Cases. | PostNatal. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lordship Lane Muni-cipal Medical Cent. | 104 | 1943 | 468 | 128 |
| The Chestnuts Centre St.Ann's Road. | 129 | 2363 | 616 | 140 |
| Park Lane Muni-cipal Medical Centre | 103 | 1683 | 352 | 81 |
| 1941 Totals: | 336 | 5989 | 1436 | 349 |
| 1940 Totals: | 314 | 5210 | 901 | 297 |
I an indebted to Dr.Rickards for the following report on
the Maternity Clinics:-
"During 1941, the work undertaken at the Ante Natal Clinics
has shown a marked increase at each centre.
At the Chestnuts, the new patients increased from 572 in 1940
to 6l6 in 1941; at Park Lane from 207 to 352, and at Lordship Lane
from 122 to 468. This shows an increase of over 500 new patients during
the year; and of course this increase in patients is continued in the
repeat visits and post natal visits. The number of sessions was only
Increased by 22 (336 as compared with 314) and therefore the service has
been strained to the utmost.
The evacuation scheme continues to be widely used and is
ouch appreciated by the mothers, and the hospitals in the neighbourhood
work in close co-operation with the clinics and assist materially in
taking patients developing abnormalities."
Continued.