[Report 1969] / Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer of Health, Glamorgan County Council.

  • Glamorgan (Wales). County Council. nb2014013905.
Date:
1969
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1969] / Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer of Health, Glamorgan County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    16/234 (page 2)
    The demand on the health services is insatiable and the resources to meet them are limited. Improvements in surgical skills lead to more congenitally malformed children surviving into adulthood and improvements in the standard of living have led to a substantial increase in the life expectancy of the mentally subnormal. The survival of these handicapped persons in greater numbers adds to the demand on the social services. The most sensible course for dealing with the vast medical and social problems which confront us is not just to treat and alleviate after the damage has been done, but to prevent these ills. The medical officers of health of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century were successful in preventing the spread of infectious disease and it is now necessary to enlarge the concept of prevention so that we can ensure that fewer children are born with malformations and that persons adopt healthy and sensible habits so that they do not develop chronic disabling diseases such as bronchitis and neurosis. The aim should be to enable people to live as full and as independent a life as possible. These aims will not be achieved unless maximum efficiency in our admini- stration is achieved at every level. The claim of a health department to be well administered will stand the test only if it can be seen that its policy is well thought out and that policy and execution are properly integrated. The plans of the department must fit in logically with the policies pursued in the hospital and executive council services and with the related services, education, welfare, and children. It is necessary to have the facts concerning the total health problem. The Department is much too large and complex for it to be administered directly from the centre and for this reason the day to day administration of the School Health Service and the local health functions under the National Health Service Act, 1946, with the exceptions of the Ambulance Service and the Mental Health Service has been delegated to eight divisional health committees. In the Rhondda the Mental Health Service has been delegated to the Borough Council along with the other functions delegated to the divisional health com- mittees. Much time and energy are spent in informing the staff on policy and on the wider knowledge and new ideas which would influence their attitude to their work and in winning acceptance of these new ideas. Regular meetings take place with divisional medical officers, area dental officers, divisional nursing officers, and officials in other fields of activity on the formulation of future policy and on day to day problems. Meetings also take place with the representatives of the Executive Council and the general practitioners concerned about the establish- ment of health centres and also with representatives of the hospital and general practitioner services on many issues, for example, maternity liaison and geriatric and mental health advisory committees. Monthly newsletters are sent to every general practitioner in the County and to every medical, nursing and admini- strative officer on the staffs so that they may know the thinking of the Depart- ment on many issues. The lack of sufficient finance and skilled manpower is likely to hinder the proper development of the health and allied services for the forseeable future. It is only the intelligent use of these scarce resources which will enable the health