[Report 1964] / Medical Officer of Health, Hertfordshire County Council.

  • Hertfordshire (England). County Council. n 50062101.
Date:
1964
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1964] / Medical Officer of Health, Hertfordshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    to the social needs of all persons—regardless of their problems or handicaps— could be handled. This would mean the integration of mental health services with the social and welfare services provided for the infirm and physically handicapped ; and, although it was not possible to effect this during 1964, the plan for integrating the two departments is now taking shape. Whilst the plans for reorganizing the two departments were being prepared, schemes of delegation to divisions were under consideration. Providing the area or division is large enough, there are considerable advantages in giving greater responsibility to divisional officers for making decisions within a general framework of policy ; and it is particularly gratifying to note that, although Watford could have claimed delegation of health and welfare services to themselves, they elected to form with the other District Councils in the South- West Herts Division a Divisional Health and Welfare Executive Committee. Dr. Alcock, the divisional medical officer, makes comment about this later in the report. It is obvious that a balance should be struck between administration and field-work, and the multiplication of miniature local health departments has little to commend it if they are merely duplicates of the County administration. In the interests of economy, local and central administration should complement one another, and it is of paramount importance that delegation schemes and the reorganization of the central administration should go hand-in-hand, the former providing the means for making local decisions expeditiously and the latter providing a complementary service, i.e. concentrating the expertise which cannot be dissipated over a wide area and to which each division could turn for guidance and help. The use of computers as a means of minimizing the demands for more clerical officers in the growing department is an important factor in the reorgani- zation ; and, in association with a number of local authorities (all of whom have identical computers), a common system of programming health records is being discussed. This is a complicated matter and takes time, but without any doubt must be regarded as an essential feature of the reorganization. It requires the concentration of specialized expertise, and it is gratifying to report that Sir Alan Moncrieff (formerly Professor of Child Health at the London University) has accepted the part-time appointment as Consultant Adviser in Child Health to the department, for his experience and knowledge in this field can now be shared amongst the staff. I am also impressed with the enthusiasm shown by the members of the Research Panel working under the chairmanship of Dr. Cust ; for this unit, supported by a full-time statistician, has provided an outlet for the particular energies and interests of the medical, nursing and other staff, and in its modest way has more than encouraged the staff to question what they do—an essential prerequisite to any assessment of the efficiency of a service. In conclusion, I would like to thank both the officers and the members for their support during the year—and, in particular, to the officers whose contributions make this report. I am, Ladies and Gentlemen, Your obedient servant, G. W. Knight, County Medical Officer.