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84
During 1923, 320 women received hospital midwifery
or midwifery assistance in their homes on the instructions
of the Committee; 4,921 milk applications were dealt with; 1,402
attendances by Health Visitors were made at the Clinics, including
the Voluntary Centres where voluntary help is forthcoming
(as at the larger Municipal Clinics, owing to the overcrowding,
at least three Health Visitors must assist or chaos would result)
and 18,607 visits were paid. Of this total number of visits only
7,879 were paid to children between the ages of 1 and 5.
There is an average of over 5,000 births notified yearly in the
Borough, and to these infants, 9,927 visits were paid, many
infants, of course, requiring considerably more visits than others,
so that the inadequacy of the number paid to the child population
between the ages of 1 and 5 is obvious. In fact it is only
immediately after the notification is received that systematic
visiting can be attempted.
This state of affairs, of course, reacts on other medical services
; large numbers of children contracting diseases of a preventable
nature at the time that they should have been cared
for by the Maternity and Child Welfare scheme. The Committee
reported to the Council that a letter, dated July 11th, 1923, was
received from the Ministry directing attention to the satisfactory
manner in which the work, so far as is possible under present conditions,
was being conducted, and requesting the appointment of
temporary Health Visitors during the absence of permanent staff;
much of the illness amongst the Health Visiting staff being
possibly due to the excessive work required of them.
The additional duties required of the Health Visiting staff,
if the recommendation contained in this report were adopted,
would necessitate the appointment of four more Health Visitors,
at a cost of £818 at the present rate of salary, and of this sum
£409 would fall upon the rates.