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8
The need for playgroups and nursery education in a Borough of this nature
cannot be over-emphasized. The necessity to relieve young mothers for part of
the day, and the needs for the socialisation of young children living in blocks
of flats, or even in houses where there are no facilities to play with other
children, is very great. It is estimated that some facilities or other probably
exist for approximately 16% of the children in the Borough between the ages of
3-5 to have supervised care outside their own homes for part of the week.
Although the prime person to care for a child of this age is obviously the
mother, in the type of urban society within this Borough there are probably now
less opportunities for children of this age to meet other children and to meet
aunties, uncles, grandmothers, etc., than existed previously than exists in the
less urbanized parts of the country.
Immunisation continued to be carried out throughout the year and the numbers
attending for measles vaccination showed a rise over the previous year. The
year saw the beginning of a system of computerisation of immunisation schedules
for young children. This service was available not only for children attending
the maternal and child health services of the Health Department, but was made
available to general practitioners. The computer provides not only for recording
of immunisation, but for sending off appointments at appropriate times for the
child to attend for immunisation and re-immunisation.
The year saw the process of building of the Somerford Grove Health Centre,
the first new health centre to be built in the London Borough of Hackney. At
the time of the preparation of this Preface it had just been completed. Several
health centres are planned for theBorough and also at the time of the preparation
of this Preface two other health centres had commenced building, the one at Barton
House and the one at Clapton Park. Negotiations at health centres have taken up
a great deal of time of the Department. The necessity to make equitable charges to
general practitioners working in the centres so as to provide a better service for
the people of the Borough, with the economics of running the centre has been difficult,
and at the end of the year these negotiations were still in progress.
The mental health services continued throughout the year. Steps had been
taken to reorganise the basis of the mental health service into areas in such a
way that they would fit in to the area concept of the new Social Services
Department. Although no work has commenced on the adaptation of the Territorial
Army building in Albion Road nor on the provision of the junior hostels in Green
Lanes, the position had been virtually finalized by the end of the year and it
is hoped that actual work will commence on these buildings during 1971.
The Report again embodies a section on the work of the School Health Service
and the School Dental Service. Although these are not the direct concern of the
Borough Council, as they affect thehealth of the children of the Borough, these
sections make interesting reading. It is interesting to note that a special
survey showed that only 25% of the 5 year old children had no decayed teeth,
which emphasized the continued need for care for both the physical and dental
health of young children.
There was no major epidemic during the year, although there was some
increase in the number of cases of measles. This disease seems to have lost its
previous biennial pattern possibly because of vaccination. The main causes of
death remain similar to previous years; again the number of cases of cancer of
the lung causes concern.
1970 saw a repeat of the problem that had arisen in 1969 - the effects
of a major and prolonged strike by the dustmen and certain allied services.
The problem of uncollected refuse again threw a severe burden on the Department
for which the whole of its resources had to be mobilised. Again there was
good co-operation between the Unions concerned and officers of the Department
to keep any danger to a minimum consistent with the actual strike conditions.