[Report 1937] / Medical Officer of Health, Oldbury Borough.

  • Oldbury (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1937
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1937] / Medical Officer of Health, Oldbury Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    23/100 (page 21)
    The Health Visiting staff is equivalent to the services of two and half full-time Health Visitors and in their official capacity as such, visit infants and children between one and five years of age, expectant mothers, cases of ophthalmia neonatorum, children under the Children’s Act, 1908, as amended by Part V. of the Children and Young Persons Act, 1932. During the year 13,544 visits were paid to the homes in the district and 499 sessions were accounted tor by Ante-natal and Infant Welfare Centres. During four months of the year the staff was reduced owing to vacancies. It must be borne in mind that, up to a point, the efficiency of a Health Visitor’s Work is in inverse ratio to the number of patients seen. The following table gives a summary of the work of the health visitor’s for the year 1937 in comparison with that for the previous year:— 1936. 1937- Primary visits under 12 months ... 823 838 Re-visits under 12 months 3446 3589 Visits to children between 1 and 5 years... 4499 7560 Primary visits to Expectant Mothers 134 171 Re-visits to Expectant Mothers 81 98 Special visits 196 422 Totals ... 9,179 12,678 In addition, during the year 1937 there were 57 visits for the purpose of making enquiries into the causes of infantile deaths and 43, for stillbirths. The number of ineffective visits was 766. Children Act, 1908, as amended by Part V. of the Children and Young Persons Act, 1932. The five health visitors are duly appointed infant life protection visitors under the above Act, and it is their duty to visit from time to time infants notified to this Authority under the Act. For the year 1937, the Register to be kept under the Act, indicates:— (1) Number of foster-parents— (a) at the beginning of the year ... 5 (b) at the end of the year ... ... 6 (2) Number of children— (a) at the beginning of the year ... 5 (b) at the end of the year ... ... 6 (c) who died during the year ... ... - In no instance was it found necessary to take proceedings undei powers contained in the Act.