[Report 1957] / Medical Officer of Health, Norfolk County Council.

  • Norfolk County Council
Date:
1957
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1957] / Medical Officer of Health, Norfolk County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    6/80 page 4
    During 1957, the population of the administrative county increased by / 3,700, the St. Faith’s and Aylsham Rural District accounting for nearly one i. half of the increase. This is not altogether surprising, as it is the largest of < the three county districts in the Norwich fringe area and has built the largest ; number of houses in the post-war period. The birth rate showed a small increase over the previous year and was 0.35 per 1,000 higher than in 1952. On the other hand, the still-birth rate > was disappointing, being higher than last year and slightly in excess of the > rate for England and Wales. The infant mortality rate was also higher than last year, but considerably ; less than the rates of 5 and 10 years ago. Whjlst there are bound to be l fluctuations in the figures for successive years, it is encouraging to note that i the general trend is in the right direction and that the death rate of infants : under one year of age has decreased by over one-third in the last 10 years. The death rate showed a slight decline, but the most interesting fact was ; that one half of the deaths were of persons 75 years of age or over. The health of the county has remained at a satisfactory level and the t numbers of deaths from those infectious diseases which were so prevalent 25 1 years ago show very marked decreases, due largely to the preventive measures i which have been introduced. Mothercraft classes, which were initiated in 1956, were extended to other i centres and further classes are proposed. These have proved a most useful f adjunct to our ante-natal arrangements. The numbers of nursing and expectant mothers and pre-school children t provided with dental care were comparatively small. This is unavoidable » with the present shortage of dental officers in the public health service, unless school children are to be further neglected in order to cope with the other ; priority classes. The shortage of all types of domiciliary nursing staff, and particularly ; qualified health visitors, continued. Six scholarships were allocated in 1957 to enable suitable candidates to train for the health visitors’ certificate. When the National Health Service Act came into operation, the County j Council agreed that the Norfolk County Nursing Association should act as ; its agent for the provision of nursing services. This proved to be a very ; happy arrangement, but the Association, feeling that the time had come for the Council to provide a direct service, gave notice that it would like the i Council to assume responsibility as from 1st April, 1958. The medical staff were very much occupied with the vaccination against i poliomyelitis of those children who were registered in 1956. Supplies of vaccine were limited and it was not possible to deal with any of the 1957 registrations. The scheme was twice extended during the year to include all children over 6 months and under 15 years of age and other persons at special risk. The introduction of radio control has led to increased efficiency of the i ambulance service. For the first time since the service was started in 1948, there was a reduction in the number of patients carried, compared with the previous year, and the mileage was the lowest since 1953. The number of patients conveyed by the sitting case car service was lower than in the three previous years and the mileage was the lowest since 1952.
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