[Report 1968] / Medical Officer of Health, York City.

  • York (England). City Council.
Date:
1968
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1968] / Medical Officer of Health, York City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    16/128 (page 14)
    August 1 969 My Lord Mayor, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have pleasure in presenting my first Annual Report for the City for the year ending 31st December, 1968. The form of the Report has been revised and is presented in sections on Vital Statistics, Infectious Disease, Environmental Health and the Personal Health Services, with other additional information, and includes the report on the School Health Service for the year. Administration In June, Dr. Catherine Crane your Medical Officer of Health and Principal School Medical Officer for twenty-four years retired after thirty-two years of dedicated service to the City. As the only lady Medical Officer of Health of a County Borough, she was a well known national figure, and was recognised by her colleagues as a Medical Officer of Health of distinction. During her period of office she was actively involved in the implementation of the National Health Service and the development of a Comprehensive Mental Health Service in the City. Permanent signs of her work in the form of new buildings are a Health Centre, four purpose-built Health Services Centres, two Training Centres and the Ambulance Station. Recognition of her valued services was made when it was announced in the New Year's Honours List that Her Majesty the Queen had awarded her the Order of the British Empire. In the latter half of the year the first steps to bring about central adminis¬ tration within the department were taken. The appointment of Dr. Dora Hamshaw as the first Deputy Medical Officer of Health and Deputy Principal School Medical Officer for the City in October assisted in bringing this about, and in the integration of the work of the School Health Service with that of the Health Department as a whole. The Departmental Medical Officers are now jointly appointed to the Local Health and Local Education Authorities and may work in either field; the Senior Medical Officer for Schools has duties in the Health Department and the Senior Medical Officer for Maternity and Child Health in the School Health Service, Health Visitor/School Nurses are already joint appointments. Mr. Threlfall, Chief Education Officer, has been most helpful in bringing about these changes, which ensure continuity of care for the pre-school and school child. Dr. Shevlin, Senior Assistant School Medical Officer, retired during the year and his sterling work is acknowledged in the introductory letter to the Annual Report on the School Health Service. During the year the Green Paper on the National Health Service — The Administrative Structure of the Medical and Related Services in England