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19
HEALTH SERVICES AND PUBLIC HEALTH ACT, 1968
The Health Services and Public Health Act, 1968, became law during the
year. Not all of it came into force immediately, that portion dealing with
child minding came into force in November. Certain sections still remain to
be enforced, but the majority of the provisions became law on 1st October 1968.
The Act is heterogenous in that it amends legislation of several other
Acts relating to public health. Part I of the Act deals with amendments in
connection with the National Health Service. The Sections having a direct
bearing on the work of the Health Department are discussed below:-
Section 10 - Midwifery gives local health authorities greater flexibility in
the use of midwives. Hitherto there has been a restriction on the period
during which the midwife only may attend a confinement, and a restriction on
where she may deal with the case. Now, a health visitor or home nurse may be
sent into a home rather than a midwife if the latter is not required and the
services of the former are needed. A midwife is also allowed to see a patient
anywhere, i.e., in a health centre, general practitioner surgery etc. Should
there be a temporary shortage of midwives in a hospital, the local health
authority may lend its own staff. A midwife may also, under agreed terms,
attend the delivery in hospital of women who will be in their care after
discharge from hospital.
Section 11 - Health Visiting and District Nursing provides greater flexibility
in that local health authorities are now permitted to let health visitors and
home nurses see persons elsewhere than in their homes.
Section 12 - Prophylaxis, care and after care consolidates Section 28 of the
National Health Service Act 1946 and Sections 6 & 7 of the Mental Health
Act 1959. It places beyond doubt the power of local authorities to provide
residential accommodation, training centres and other ancillary or supplementary
services for the prevention of all types of illness and for the care
and after care of persons suffering from illness.
Section 14 - Care of mothers and young children enables a local health
authority to recover charges from persons whose children they have placed
with child minders. Authorities now have the same power in respect of child
minding services as they already have with day nurseries.
Section 18(3) extends the powers of local health authorities to provide
facilities for general ophthalmic services at health centres. Section 21
enables local health authorities to provide facilities for dentists and
pharmacists practising in a private capacity in health centres.
Notifiable diseases and food poisoning
The Act repeals the existing provisions relating to the notification
procedures for cases of infectious diseases and for cases of food poisoning
and sets out a unified procedure. Substantially the procedure is the same,
but differs in minor detail. Erysipelas, membranous croup, pneumonia and
puerperal pyrexia are no longer notifiable, but tetanus and yellow fever have
been added to the list.
Leptospirosis, formerly only notifiable in certain areas, is now notifiable
throughout England and Wales. Infective jaundice was added during the
year by SI 68/861. A complete list with the number of notifications received
during the year is set out on page 57.
Section 69 repeals Section 172 of the Public Health Act 1936 (removal to
hospital of infectious persons suffering from tuberculosis of the respiratory
tract). Sections 169 & 170 of the Public Health Act 1936 provide for the
removal to hospital of persons suffering from a notifiable disease and in
future, removal of patients suffering from tuberculosis will be dealt with in
the same way as for any other notifiable disease.