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5
HEALTH DEPARTMENT,
MUNICIPAL OFFICES,
380 OLD STRFFT,
E.C.I.
Telephone: 01-985 3351
To His Worship The Mayor, and to the Aldermen
and Councillors of the London Borough of Hackney
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I have the honour to present to you my Annual Report for 1966, the first
full year of functioning of the London Borough of Hackney. The year was one
of teething trouble for the new department. Staff movement was beginning to
halt at the end of the year, but it saw the department sadly depleted in many
of its branches and with the need to adjust its administration to cope fully
with the new circumstances. The main shortage in staff occurred amongst health
visitors and public health inspectors: categories of officer who represent
the main point of contact between the department and the public. By the end
of the year the drain on health inspectors had come to an end, and because of
the Committee's forward vision there were even signs of a re-recruitment to
the service. However, the position as regards health visitors continued to
look black. The health visitor, whose training in nursing and social medicine
has taken some five years, is often a young woman, single, or residing with her
husband. Those in the former category require small units of accommodation,
and the latter category usually live in similar units of accommodation with
their husbands. This Borough does not provide, in large quantities, this type
of accommodation. Health visitors are paid on a National Scale of the Whitley
Council a salary which to say the least is not large having regard to the
training they have done. They, therefore, have to count the pennies, and as
travel is not cheap in London, tend to work in those areas where they want to
live. As there were almost no inducements to bring health visitors into
Central London (other than the very small amount of the London Allowance) it
is only human, therefore, that they prefer to live and, therefore, work where
living is cheaper and where they can readily find units of accommodation.
The need for inducements to bring health visitors to work in Fast London is,
therefore, urgent: at the end of the year the Committee had under consideration
what possible inducements they could offer.
The greatest advances as far as new ventures were concerned, were probably
in the field of mental health. The year saw the opening of the new Homerton
Training Centre. The Borough can take no credit for the initiation of this
centre, but can take a great deal from the fact that almost while it was being
built it was re-planned to accommodate both sexes. Originally, the centre
had been planned to accommodate one sex only, presumably a hangover from th
days when it was not considered good policy to mix subnormal people of both
sexes. The result of the change has been an unconditional success, the centre
having functioned well both as a training ground for occupation, and socially.
There has been no output of articles on an industrial scale but the light
articles manufactured, often designed and made with ingenuity found a ready
sale. In addition, the centre has received orders for light assembly work and
packing work which has been of interest to the trainees.
For some little time there has existed a particular problem with children
who were severely mentally handicapped and, in many cases, physically handicapped.
The parents of these children often had the heaviest burden to bear.
Beds in hospital for this type of case were and are exceedingly difficult to
get: Units containing them are few and far between, and in these days of modern
medicine with the greater expectation of life the vacancies occur much less
often. Apart from this difficulty in obtaining beds, many parents have great
attachment to their children and do not want them to go away from home. They