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
Merton 1967
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Merton]
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The scope of Health Visiting is always widening and there are
always ways in which Health Visitors can increase their value to
families in the area. Certain services have to be adjusted and curtailed
as their use becomes less important, and the Health Visitor's time
must be arranged to cover work with the new priority groups.
It is to be hoped that this pattern is being successfully carried
out, bearing in mind that home visiting of families is always the first
priority.
Training of Health Visitors
Health Visitors in the Borough who are qualified as Fieldwork
Instructors continued to receive students attached for training or for
observation purposes during the year from various centres.
'In-Service' training of Health Visitors was continued. Five
Health Visitors attended post-graduate refresher courses, two undertook
training as Fieldwork Instructors, and one attended a weekend
course in Psychoprophylaxis to enable her to take classes for antenatal
mothers in 'Preparation for Childbirth'.
In addition Health Visitors attended several one-day or half-day
conferences on subjects of special interest.
The following table shows the number of cases in the various categories visited by the Health Visitors in 1967:—
| Category. | Number of cases visited. |
|---|---|
| Children born in 1967 | 2,812 |
| Children born in 1966 | 3,324 |
| Children born in 1962/5 | 8,847 |
| Total born 1962/7 | 14,983 |
| Number of people aged over 65 visited | 529 |
| Number of mentally disordered people | 168 |
| Total visits | 15,680 |
Attendances at Clinics and Centres:—
No. of attendances at Infant Welfare Centres 2,220
No. of atendances at Ante-natal and Post-natal Clinics 284
No. of attendances at Mothercraft Sessions 327
No. of attendances at Parentcraft Classes 223
No. of attendances at Toddler Clinics 204
No. of attendances at Geriatric Clinics 35
No. of attendances at G.P. Clinics 172
The immigrant population in Merton is now quite a sizeable one
and verbal communication is sometimes a problem, although the
Health Visitors are helped by certain pamphlets on feeding, etc., which
are printed in Urdu and other languages. Some Health Visitors have
become quite expert in miming.
General Practitioner Attachments
The general practitioner attachments are proving helpful both to
the patients and to the Doctors and Health Visitors, and a further
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