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3. Immunisation sessions are on an appointment basis, although no child
who attends without an appointment is refused immunisation. The
appointment system has been devised to operate as follows:-
(a) Appointments to commence a course of injections are sent out by
reference to the birth register as soon as a child reaches the
age of six months.
(b) Non-attenders are given a second appointment.
(c) Failure to attend at the second opportunity is followed up by
the health visitor.
(d) Children who do not return for second or third injections are
sent further appointments and followed up by the health visitor
to ensure completion of the course.
(e) All completed courses are noted against the child's name in the
birth register and if there is no entry by the time a child is
a year old the name is notified to the health visitor for
further follow-up.
4. Graphs and statistics are prepared at regular intervals and widely
distributed to foster a spirit of competition between different
centres and health visitors.
Boosting Injections
1. The aim is to secure that all children receive a boosting injection
in their first year at a primary school. Letters to parents of all
new entrants are distributed through the schools,
2. When the necessary consents have been received in response to these
letters, sessions are arranged at the schools when a doctor attends
to carry out all immunisations necessary.
It became apparent during the year, from information supplied by health
visitors, that a number of children were leaving the Area before reaching the
age of six months. As this factor, if significant, would tend to explain the
difficulty in achieving the Ministry of Health target of 75% immunised
children under one year of age, a fuller investigation was carried out. It
was found that for the Area as a whole approximately 10% of the children born
between October, 1952, and July, 1953, moved out of the Area before they were
six months old. The health visitor s district served by the Fortis Green
Centre showed the greatest number of such removals, no less than 20% of such
children having left the district. This migration is compensated to some
extent, by movements into the Area. Same of these children are notified to
us by the health authorities in whose areas they previously resided, while
others are taken by their mothers to the infant welfare centres or are found