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family as a whole, including the aged, instead of as previously
only the care of the mother and child- Also because the health
visitor's special knowledge of social conditions affecting the welfare
of the family has been in greater demand by hospitals and other
agencies working in the National Health Service or co operating
with it. The consequent increase in the writing of reports has
encroached on the health visit's time more than ever before.
Each health visitor spends a proportion of her time in home
visiting, health education in schools and clinics, duties in Maternity
and Child Welfare Centres, School clinics and routine hygiene
and medical examinations in schools. Some of these latter duties
are undertaken by school and clinic nurses. Requests for talks
to school girl leavers has increased and now these are given regularly
each term in a number of schools in the Area,
During the year members of the health visiting staff have assisted
with special investigations on B. C. G„ inoculations for
school leavers; the social needs of people living in large blocks
of flats and the nutritional survey of anaemia in housewives.
A health visitor also attends the Prince of Wales's Hospital
Paediatric and Rheumatism Clinics on one half-day session per week
and carries out special visits connected with applications for convalescence,
admission to hospital and hospital discharges
Each health visitor' is appointed to combined work of health
visiting and school nursing but a proportion of routine clinic and
school medical work is delegated to school and clinic nurses, so
that the health visitor is enabled to devote more time to the
socio-medical duties which have developed to meet present day needs.
Practical health visiting experience has been provided in the
Area for student fiealth visitors from Middlesex, Essex, The Royal
College of Nursing and the London County Council
The following table records the number of visits paid by health
visitors working in this Area and shows a progressive rise over
the past 3 years.