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77
Health Visitors, Family Doctors, Hospitals and Voluntary
Organisations
An informal meeting of health visitors and general practitioners
was held in Hornsey on 27th October, 19 55. The response
to the invitation was very good indeed; 29 local general medical
practitioners attended as well as ten health visitors and several
members of the Area medical staff.
During the year follow-up of cases reported by family doctors
has enabled health visitors to visit a number of patients and deal
with their particular problems.
Team work with hospital almoners and ward sisters has been
excellent. 126 health visitors reports have been sent to
hospitals at the request of almoners during the year and 167 to
other bodies, excluding 433 B.C.G. follow-up reports for the
Medical Research Council.
Co-operation and assistance from statutory and voluntary
organisations have been of considerable value to health visitors
in their work. We should like to mention the Children's and
Social Welfare Departments, the local offices of the National
Assistance Board, the N S.P/C.C., I. C. A A., W. V.S. , Old Peoples'
Welfare and Diocesan Moral Welfare,
Clinic voluntary workers in the Hornsey part of the Area have
given regular, reliable and very valuable services in infant
welfare clinics and in managing the sale and distribution of
welfare foods, .
Health Education and Parentcraft
Apart from home visiting for such purposes as advice to
expectant mothers infant care and feeding, follow-up for hospital
admissions and discharges,, family doctors cases, clinic attenders,
special surveys including the recent one for the Ministry of
Health on National Dried Milk, care of the aged, problem families,
etc., when educational advice is given, health education is a
continuous process for health visitors wherever their duties take
them.
During the past few years a special feature of health education
has been the talks on home making and parentcraft to school
children especially during their last year at school. This year
all the secondary modern girls' schools except one have received
this type of instruction from a school health visitor who spends