[Report 1952] / Medical Officer of Health, Birmingham.

  • Birmingham (England). Council.
Date:
1952
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1952] / Medical Officer of Health, Birmingham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    41/316 (page 41)
    Practitioners are informed that they can telephone or call at the local welfare centre before 10 a.m. or at any time during clinic hours to ask for information or for the assistance of a health visitor. At the same time as this proposal of integration with the general practitioner’s work was being actively considered it appeared a necessary adjunct, in order to effect a “ complete ” co-operation between the services, to extend the duties of the health visitor to the hospitaPj^^^his function of the health visitor would entail a division of her duties between hospital attendances and home visiting, and the following information was placed before the Health Committee in July, 1951 :— “ Hospital Health Visitors The duties of these health visitors are divided between hospital attendances and home visiting. When in hospital they are present at the teaching rounds with undergraduates and generally take part in the work of the department by giving information on medico- social histories of the children concerned. Thus, the medical student is introduced to the work of health visitors, and his interest stimulated in medico-social problems. During the child’s hospital stay the health visitor learns his medical history and visits the child’s home, bringing back useful and practical information. It is her practice to write a short account of her findings on the child’s case notes. She thus makes herself known to the family and co-operates with them after the child’s discharge. The child, too, knows her in hospital and welcomes an old friend. On the child’s discharge from hospital, the health visitor, armed with all the necessary medical information, sees that the medical after-care is carried out, but as soon as she is satisfied that her attendance is no longer necessary the family are passed on to the health visitor of the district. Every encouragement is made to co-operate with the district health visitor and the home is visited together if possible. In addition, the hospital health visitors each have a small district of their own in which they act as routine health visitors. The following list of duties summarises the type of work done :— (i) To pay an investigation visit to the home of the child while he is in hospital and to report on the suitability of the home and the parents to receive the child on his return, together with comments on the desirability of convalescence or special schooling, etc. (ii) To supervise, on discharge home, the medical treatment ordered—for example, feeding, breathing exercises, medi- cines, etc., and, if need be, to contact the general practi- tioner in charge of the case. (iii) To arrange for the child to attend the appropriate follow-up clinic, and if necessary to arrange for transport.