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18
Health Visiting.—The increasing birth-rate, the need to
commence additional clinic sessions and the fact that the Council
has been unable to fill vacancies for Health Visitors has thrown a
heavy burden upon the depleted staff of Health Visitors. In the
year under review 18 Health Visitors, the Child Protection Visitor
and a temporary visitor paid 34,553 visits and made 3,319 half-day
attendances at Clinics, as compared with 41,404 visits and 2,845
Clinic attendances in the previous year. Details of the work of the
Health Visitors and the Child Protection Visitor are given in the
Table which appears on pages 20 and 21.
Maternity Hospital Accommodation.—The Council pays the
sum of one guinea in respect of each necessitous person admitted
from the borough for treatment at either of the under-mentioned
hospitals. Expectant mothers are deemed to be eligible for assistance
under this scheme if by reason of poverty or other cause they
are unable to pay an amount equal to half the average cost per
patient of the maintenance and administration charges of the
hospital concerned for the preceding year.

In view of the shortage of maternity bed accommodation in
London, the London County Council has continued the arrangements
instituted during the war under which mothers may be confined in
emergency maternity hospitals in the home counties and this has
been of great assistance having regard to the housing position which
makes home confinement very unsuitable in many cases. During
1946 there were 157 registrations at the ante-natal clinics of women
who needed admission to emergency maternity hospitals.
Charges for Maternity and Child Welfare Services.—The
following is the income scale used to assess the ability of parents
to contribute towards the cost of maternity and child welfare services
other than the provision of Home Helps, for which service
assessments are made in accordance with a scale and procedure
recommended by the Metropolitan Boroughs' Standing Joint
Committee:—