View report page

30
Officers of the Department attended meetings during the year concerning
the possibility of family planning services being provided at hospitals in the
Hackney and Tottenham groups. Unfortunately there had been no development
about this by the end of the year.
Early in the year approval was granted by the Family Planning Association
for one of the Health Department's Clinics to undertake the teaching of doctors
and nurses taking the Family Planning Association Certificates. During the
year two doctors and two nurses undertook training there.
A liaison committee initiated by the Family Planning Association was set
up during the year to provide a link between the two parts of the service and
an opportunity for discussing matters of common interest.
The department hit the headlines during the year when the Council approved
a scheme to make male sterilisation (vasectomy) available in appropriate cases,
fees being paid by the Council. The furore which this created was in fact out
of all proportion to the original idea which was that vasectomy should be
available within the domiciliary scheme as an alternative to existing birth
control methods. Doubts have since been raised whether a local health authority
has power to provide vasectomy within the terms of the National Health Service
(Family Planning) Act 1967. It would seem most unfortunate if the general
principle of making contraception available to either partner should be hindered
by this interpretation.
Towards the end of the year, the Family Planning Association announced
the introduction of their National Family Planning Agency Scheme whose object
is to rationalise present arrangements and make a standard scheme applicable
to the whole country. From the case rate figures quoted, it was apparent that
the Council would be involved in additional expenditure under the new scheme.
It was therefore decided that the agency arrangement with the Family Planning
Association should be gradually phased out and the Council's directly provided
service be extended to take over existing Family Planning Association sessions.
It is anticipated that this will be a gradual process and will be a change of
administration rather than of service. Staff now working at Family Planning
Association sessions will be invited to transfer to the Health Department
service.
For the last nine months of the year additional statistics were requested
by the Department of Health and Social Services on the type of cases attending
family planning clinics and the different methods adopted. These are set out
below.
Sex and marital distribution
Males 1
Married females 776
Unmarried females 78
855
Types of case -
Medical 650
Non-medical but needy 142
Other non-medical 62
854
Methods adopted -
Sheath 328
Pill 359
Diaphragm 112
I. U. D. 264
Other method 13
No method advised 9
1,085
More than one method would have been adopted in several cases.