[Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, County of Zetland (Shetland Islands).

  • Shetland (Scotland). County Council.
Date:
1948
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, County of Zetland (Shetland Islands). Source: Wellcome Collection.

    10/26
    The year 1948 was one of transition in which on July 5th the County Council assumed the responsibilities placed upon Local authorities under Fart 111 of the National Health Service (Scotland) *tct. On the same date the responsibility of running the local authority’s hospitals passed to another body. ‘ • The new Health Services Act has caused less change in public health administration than it has done in the case of the hospital services and the general practitioner service. The Local Authority's duties under the Act - such as care of mothers and young children, home nursing and domiciliary midwifery - depend very largely on the existence of an efficient District Nursing Service. During the last five months of the year when the new Act was in force the only major change which occurred in the public health matters was in the administration of the domiciliary nursing service throughout the county. Thanks to the co-operation and help of persons in all areas of the County who had previously been interested in the District Nursing associations it was possible for the County Council to assume control of the Listrict Nursing oervice and to maintain the service during the difficult early months of the change-over. In a report which has to be restricted to the year 1948 it is too early to report at any length on the effects of the changes in the administration of the Nursing Services. At the end of 1948 there was a Superintendent of District Nurses and 19 District Nurses in the employment of the County Council and 14 motor vehicles were in use for their transport. Mention of the work done in the Local Authority’s hospitals will be made for the last time in this annual report, and for the sake of completeness the work of the hospitals is described up to the end of the year, although the Local Authority handed over these institutions to the Regional Hospital Board in July. MATERNITY SERVICES AND CHILD WELFARE The Local Authority's domiciliary Maternity Scheme ceased to function in July. During the few years which this scheme was in force it was made use of for about half the total number of confinements which occurred outside the Burgh of Lerwick and it can be described as having worked satisfactorily. During the first half of the year the services of tve Scheme were given to 41 maternity cases. The County Council's proposals under Section 23 of the Act is now enabling a similar domiciliary service to be provided. During the year the patient's practitioner was in attendance during the confinement in 76% of all domiciliary confinements. The services of the practitioner were therefore available in most domiciliary cases when an anaesthetic was required. Of the 19 midwives employed by the Local Authority at the end of the year 4 have been trained in the administration of gas and air analgesia. It is intended that most of the remainder should also receive this training and that suitable apparatus be provided. Although motor vehicles are provided for the midwives in the County the transport of gas and air apparatus will always be something of a problem in country areas. Altogether (including institutional cases) all but 12% of maternity cases which occurred in 1948 had the opportunity of receiving analgesia during labour.