View report page

7
The population of the borough continues to decline and as a result of
this and other causes, so does the number of births and domiciliary confinements.
Although it has been declining for some years the home confinements
showed almost a dramatic fall from 261 in 1971, to 131 this year. To a large
extent this is probably accounted for by the ready availability of maternity
beds for hospital confinements. Against this is the fact that the number
of discharges from maternity hospitals before the tenth day has steadily
risen from 266 in 1970, 374 in 1971, to 523 this year, of which 193 were
planned early discharges and 330 unplanned early discharges. This year the
Adjusted Death rate shows a fall over the previous year. The Infant Mortality
Rate although showing a slight fall over the previous year still gives rise
to some anxiety. It is well above that of England and Wales and although
figures are not available for Greater London as a whole, it is known that it
is above many of the London boroughs. Hackney, unfortunately, comes in the
same category as Greenwich, Newham and Wandsworth and one or two other London
boroughs, of having an infant mortality rate of more than 20. It has long
been known that the Infant Mortality Rate is one of the sensitive of health
indices and although national figures show that many large towns tend to have
a high infant mortality, it is a factor that must be investigated. The
Health Department, during the course of 1973, is to take up the matter with
other branches of the health services to see what can be done. Deaths from
cancer of the lung which have shown a tendency to rise over the last few
years, showed a decline in 1972, but in one year this is probably of no
significance.
As a corollary to the decrease in home confinements the amount of
ante-natal care provided by the local authority continues to decrease. The
majority of women now attending for ante-natal care at the Authority's
clinics are seen by the general practitioner obstetrician holding a session
in the Centre. This arrangement is in line with the recommendations of the
Peel Report concerning the future of the midwifery services. At the only
Centre where one of the authority's own doctors function, only 26 women
attended for ante-natal examination during the year and 56 for a post-natal
examination.
Although the format of the child health and immunisation clinics remain
similar to previous years, in accordance with more modern views a new
approach is evolving in many clinics and at Shoreditch Health Centre in
particular. An account of this is contained in the body of the Report and
although it is too early to tell, it is felt that this new approach gives a
better service to the mothers and children. The Health Department isunfortunately
not immune to current trends in the outside world and heights
and weights of babies are slowly going 'metric'.
The Health Department is very much aware, as is the Social Services
Department, of the problem of battered children. The numbers of children
known to the Health Department who are at risk or even battered has shown a
some what alarming rise to 89 and this number includes 29 new cases. This
rise, of course, may be more apparent than real and may reflect more anxiety
to prevent harm than an actual concrete rise in the number of cases. The
procedure adopted has been recorded in previous Annual Reports but is
essentially one of team work between the departments of the Council, the
Education and Hospital authorities and others.