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36
Recruitment
It is a sobering thought that the intake of younger women
into the profession is not as high as it should be if future
requirements are to be met. Although training institutes will
shortly be turning out large numbers of Younghusband trained
social workers there is still cause for concern in the dearth
of entrants to health visiting, large areas of which cannot be
performed satisfactorily without a nursing training.
The decision of the Council to amalgamate the Health and
Welfare Departments made contact easier between health
visitors and social welfare officers and has resulted in decisions
that one officer or the other (but not both, except in certain
cases) will be responsible for casework with a particular
family. The fact that both sections are in the same building
leads also to easier co-ordination.
Central
Registry of
Casework
A start was made early in the year on the establishment
of a central registry of casework, which is simple in conception
and execution. In the past, casework has been bedevilled
by multiple visiting by different agencies, each not knowing
what the others were doing. The institution of a central
registry, available for reference to all caseworkers in the
Borough, which' records simply the name and address of the
family and which social worker is visiting, is a big step forward
and will lead to a better use of available resources.
Miss J. Oliver, Superintendent Health Visitor, reports:-
"It was pleasing to welcome Miss Collins, Deputy Superintendent
Health Visitor, appointed from April, 1965.
Now that many of the services work under the same roof,
informal conferences on problems have been easy to arrange
and helpful to all workers.
One of the most startling facts emerging from this is that
other social workers have so little knowledge of the health
visitors work.
The more co-operation health visitors receive, on behalf
of various families, the more their work naturally increases.
Other workers get to hear of their wide field of knowledge and
experience. Many new ideas have been brought into the service
during 1965. These have entailed a good deal of discussion and
planning.
After consultations in April, it was decided that the health
visitors would not continue with their visits to the physically