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76
HEALTH VISITING SERVICE
(Section 24)
The growth and development of health visiting is unfortunately
constricted in this Area as elsewhere by the limited number
of qualified women available.
In Hornsey and Tottenham the number of health visitors is
well below the establishment and in order to keep the school
health services operating satisfactorily, clinic nurses are
employed, mainly to relieve health visitors of this part of their
work. The assistance which is given to health visitors by this
means is limited to clinical aid and does not relieve them of the
preventive and sociological part of their work,
New entrants to the profession barely make up the normal
wastage occasioned by retirement or resignation and at the same
time the growing range of health visiting places a heavier load
on each health visitor. On this account old standards of health
visitor establishment should be discarded and an increase made in
the ratio of health visitors to the population if the requirements
of the service are to be met This may entail improved conditions
for the profession if a serious attempt at recruitment is
envisaged. The number of home visits to children in the 0-1
year age group has increased slightly during the year; there has
been a small fall in the number of visits to expectant mothers and
children in the 1-5 year age group and children of school age„
An increase is also shown in the number of visits to homes for
other purposes. This is accounted for by a larger percentage of
visits to the aged and by follow-up B0 C, G. visits. The total
number of visits to homes for all purposes shows a slight rise.
No. of visits paid by Health Visitors working in the Area: -
1955
1954
Expectant Mothers
First Visits
1.858
1,986
Children under 1 year of age
Total Visits
2,955
3, 324
First Visits
3, 149
3, 042
Total Visits
15, 392
14,391
Children aged 1-2
Total Visits
7,025
7,449
Children aged 2-5
Total Visits
13,953
14,036
Other cases
Total Visits as Health Visitor
4,686
4, 112
Total Visits as School Nurse
1, 144
1,098