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this undoubtedly would have an effect on contributing to the effective
medical care of the community.
Land for Health Centres is a problem which will continue to grow,
The price of established land rises annually and it is easy to see that in
not very many years, to put a Health Centre only on a plot of land will
be uneconomic. This may lead to such buildings being incorporated in
blocks of flats and office buildings and the chances are that they will
work very well once it is accepted that consulting rooms need not be on
the ground floor and may equally effectively come to be on the 10th or
20th floor, provided there is an efficient lift service. It is quite possible
that such a Health Centre may be necessary in the Central Redevelopment
Area. It would be the scarcity of geographically suitable sites more
than any other factor which will prevent the realisation of full Health
Centre practice for the future. With medical education undergoing changes,
as laid down in the Todd report, this puts a large part of the responsibility
for the future in the hands of the Local Health Authorities,
which we will have to be prepared to share and enjoy.
SECTION 22 - CARE OF MOTHERS AND YOUNG CHILDREN
(Dr. W.H. TOMS, B.M., Ch.B.(Edin), Principal Medical Officer)
South Park Health Services Clinic, opened in November 1968, will
be the last of the clinics constructed to provide Local Health Authority
Services only. It is now certain that Health Centres staffed largely by
general practitioners, will be the only building activity of this type encouraged
by the Government.
Be that as it may, South Park Health Services Clinic is a handsome
building, both elegant and functional. In addition to all the usual
services, directed at the promotion of health among young children, there
is accommodation for a dental surgeon and chiropodist, a sound-proof
room for hearing testing, and counselling rooms for social workers.
It is anticipated that as more homes are built in the area, this clinic,
will be a centre of positive health activity in the community.
Dr. Joan Pooley reports later and at some length on the functioning
of the Observation Register for which she is responsible. The purpose
of such a register is to identify those children most likely to suffer from
handicapping conditions. This of course is done by reference to the