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
Hackney 1947
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hackney]
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32
(iii) Home help assistance was limited to one month for
persons suffering from acute illnesses, post-operative
debility, broken limbs, emergencies in the home, etc.
Even with this curtailment of the service, approximately
177,900 hours assistance was provided during the year, and the
number of families receiving assistance weekly increased from 270
in January to 632 by the end of the year.
The recruitment and employment of Home Helps during the year was as follows:—
| Employed Weekly. | Hours Assistance. provided weekly (approx.) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time. | Part-time. | ||
| January | 44 | 43 | 2,500 |
| April | 66 | 54 | 3,700 |
| September | 78 | 82 | 4,400 |
| December | 62 | 78 | 3,700 |
The cases assisted generally fall into the following categories:—
(a) Maternity cases;
(b) Aged and infirm persons, usually living alone;
(c) Chronic ailment cases—arthritis, heart disease, etc.;
(d) Cases of temporary illness, such as the illness of a
housewife;
(e) Blind persons—22 blind persons were receiving assistance
at the end of the year.
Charges for assistance under the scheme are made
in accordance with the income scale and method of assessment
recommended by the Metropolitan Boroughs' Standing Joint
Committee.
The cases dealt with during the year are shown below, together with the comparable figures for the two previous years, from which the rate of growth of this service will be seen:-
| Maternity and Child Welfare Cases. | Other Cases. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945. | 1946. | 1947. | 1945. | 1946. | 1947. | |
| No. of applications received | 203 | 479 | 464 | 69 | 332 | 560 |
| No. of families assisted | 151 | 337 | 379 | 60 | 307 | 508 |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Gross wages of Home Helps | 1,336 | 2,796 | 4,442 | 278 | 4,523 | 13,294 |
| Contributions towards cost | 285 | 956 | 1,350 | 95 | 752 | 1,836 |