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During the year the borough of Hackney was one of those selected to
undertake a survey of the work of health visitors throughout the London area.
This was carried out by the Research and Intelligence Unit of the Greater
London Council. Selected health visitors recorded their daily work for a
short period so as to ascertain (in terms of time spent) the amount of
visiting and clinic work undertaken. This information is of value to medical
officers of health and the study has also the backing of the Council for the
Training of Health Visitors who hope to be able to use the London survey to
stimulate a national survey. The content of future training courses can then
be changed to meet current trends.
FAMILY CASE WORK
During 1969 the Social Work Section was expanded by the appointment of
a third family caseworker and a fourth school health social worker. The
family caseworkers provide a casework service for disorganised families with
multiple problems. They are concerned to work with the entire family and have
particularly valued the opportunity of attending training courses on methods
of working with Family Groups.
The school health social workers are attached to the New River Partially
Sighted School, Geffrye Physically Handicapped School, Stormont House Day
Open-Air School and the Partially Hearing Unit at London Fields School. The
role of the social worker in the school is essentially to maintain contact
between home and school, to co-operate with teaching and medical staff and to
provide casework help for the handicapped child and its family. Discussion
groups were organised for school-leavers at New River School, and in cooperation
with the social worker from the Welfare Department, for parents of
handicapped children.
The two social workers at the chest clinic and the venereal disease
social worker involved in contact tracing maintain close contact with the
other social workers at the central office.
Students from university and professional courses have been accepted for
practical working training but staff changes have limited the numbers the
department was able to accept.
Co-ordination of Social Services
The Social Services Co-ordinating Committee met regularly during 1969.
The membership consists of the chief officers of the Health, Children's,
Welfare and Housing Departments, the Deputy Town Clerk and representatives of
the Inner London Education Authority, the Housing Department of the Greater
London Council, the Department of Health and Social Security, the Probation
Service and certain voluntary organisations.
The Fieldworkers Conference, which is a sub-committee, meets fortnightly
and at this conference cases are discussed which have been referred by any
Social Work Department or agency in the borough. At this field level the
object is to pool information regarding the family under discussion and arrive
at an agreed decision on the rational use of the available social work
resources. Occasionally the conference is unable to arrive at a satisfactory
conclusion and then refers the case to the full Co-ordinating Committee
for action.
During 1969 the Co-ordinating Committee arranged meetings for social
workers with the aim of explaining the policy and practice of different
departments and thereby improving the understanding and relationships between
the social work services. Three meetings were held with speakers from the
Town Clerk's Department, the School Care Service of the Inner London Education
Authority, and an exhibition to cover the many roles of the Health Department.