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6
HEALTH DEPARTMENT,
MUNICIPAL OFFICES,
380 OLD STREET,
EC1 V9LS
Telephone: 01-986 3123
To Her Worship the Mayor, and the Aldermen
and Councillors of the London Borough of Hackney
Madam Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It has been my usual practice in opening this preface to discuss
the staffing situation of the Department. However, in view of the
enormous changes that have affected the Department during the year this
would seem a little out of place. The beginning of 1971 saw the
formation of the first Social Services Committee, and the 1st of April,
the beginning of the Social Services Department. Many of the staff of
the Health Department were automatically transferred to the Social
Services Department, and other of the staff elected to join the new
Department either because their main interests were in that Department
or they were able to achieve promotion by joining it. The Health
Department was, therefore, no longer directly concerned with staff who
previously had been concerned with mental health, day nurseries, and
the home help service, as well as certain other fringe services. However,
the staff remaining with the Department, in the main, medical,
nursing and public health inspectors, with the supporting administrative
staff, have now the task of continuing with the routine work of child
health, school health, community, medical and nursing services, and
environmental services, of improving these and preparing, if necessary,
to undertake the difficult task, if it comes, for integration into the
reorganized National Health Service.
The vital statistics show that the population of the Borough
continues to decline and partly as a result of this and other factors,
so does the number of births, domiciliary confinements and various
statistics for immunisation. The death rate on the other hand has
risen: one possible explanation of this is that with the fall in population
of the Borough, those remaining tend to be in the older age
groups. In planning for the future both these factors will have to be
borne in mind.
The Borough continues to expand its family planning services.
Discussions have taken place during the year for the Borough to run
directly all the family planning services rather than running them
partly through the agency of the Family Planning Association. It was
also agreed during the year that as from 1 April 1972 all family
planning services should be free to everyone, married and unmarried,
and for medical and social reasons. At the time of writing this preface,
the decisions regarding this have been implemented.