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One health visitor completed her Teaching Training with the Family Planning
Association and is now able to teach family planning techniques to nursing staff
working in the Council' s service.
The health visitors at Lower Clapton Maternal and Child Health Centre have
taken over the home visiting of patients attending the London Chest Hospital and
it is hoped eventually to integrate the whole of the tuberculosis visitors work
into the general health visiting programme.
In June, a letter was sent to all general practitioners in the borough, inviting
them to take part in arrangements to link the general practitioners and
the health visitors at maternal and child health centres. Of the 125 general
practitioners circulated 41, representing 34 practices, replied that they were
interested in the scheme. Arrangements were made to discuss the matter further
with them at local meetings and a working party, composed of general practitioners
and health department representatives, was then appointed to prepare a scheme.
The working party had finished its deliberations by the end of the year and the
final document had been drafted. It is envisaged that this will be a "partial
attachment" scheme. A limited number of health visitors will be involved in the
first instance and the scheme will be extended or adapted as staff resources
allow. Each health visitor taking part will spend one day a week or two half
days on work arising from the attachment. She will retain her geographical area
and for the rest of the week do her ordinary work from the child health centre.
Special arrangements will be made to cover the John Scott Health Centre and other
health centres as they open.
FAMILY CASE WORK
During 1970 the social work section remained fairly stable in numbers though
a few changes in personnel took place. Greater direction was given to the work
of this section with most social workers being seconded on short term courses,
and intensive supervision of the casework of the social workers by the senior
staff in the department.
The family caseworkers primarily deal with multiple problem families. Their
cases were mainly referred from the Social Services Co-ordinating Committee of
the Borough, the Rent Arrears Panel, the Problem Case Conference of the Inner
London Education Authority, and other Departments. The work of these social
workers is family orientated which in turn means that they have a wider coordinating
function to perform as regards different services dealing with the
same family.
The School Health Social Workers (jointly appointed by the Inner London
Education Authority and the London Borough of Hackney) are attached to the New
River Partially Sighted School, Geffrye Physically Handicapped School, Stormont
House Day Open Air School, and a 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 teachers and medical staff and to
provide casework help for the handicapped child and its family.
The two social workers at the Chest Clinics and the venereal disease social
worker involved in contact tracing maintained close contact with the other social
workers at the central office.
Students from University and professional courses continued to be accepted
for practical work training during the year.