[Report 1953] / Medical Officer of Health, Chard (Union) R.D.C.

  • Chard (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1953
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1953] / Medical Officer of Health, Chard (Union) R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/34 (page 3)
    IKFMT WEIiFARE CLINICS (Continued), Merriott; The numbers attending this Clinic are still very good indeed, and during the year additional activities were organised which were greatly appreciated by the Mothers* Dressmaking classes were held for Mothers each week throughout the year* The Summer Outing and Christmas Party for both Mothers and babies v/ere a great success* A good deal of the credit for this work must go to Nurse Judge and the Building Committee who are constantly engineering to improve the facilities at Merriott. Since the end of the year Nurse Judge has retired, and I would like to draw the Council’s attention to the very great amount of good she has done over a number of years in the Meiriott, Hinton and Lopen areas* Her v;ide knowledge and experience v/as of great benefit to all parents there, and I wish to record ny appreciation of her work* Shepton Beauchamp; The Clinic is held in this village once monthly, when Dr* l/lunden is in attendance* Tatworth; The Clinic continued to be held once a month, and the numbers attending are most encouraging* The Committee of the Perry Street Club very kindly allow their premises to be used in connection with this Clinic, and we are most grateful to them as there is no suitable alternative accommodation in the area, Winsham; This Clinic is held once monthly in the Village Hall, Dr. Elliott, one of the County Assistant Medical Officers, attends each session* Details of the various Clinic attendances will be found in Appendix B» Table I* HOME NUPSING; The District Nurses visit the homes to oaxry out any nursing duties required by the General Practitioner. This is time consuming vrork v/hich often parses \innoticed except by the patient. It requires considerable devotion to duty and our thanks are due to the Nurses who have contrived to carry 'Out such a large volume of work during the year* Details of this work can be found in Appendix B. Table II, HEALTH VISITING: Mrs, Pitt is the Health Visitor for the area. This entails attendance at a number of school medical inspections, the follow up of all defects noted, and the visiting and supervision of any special cases* She encourages the parents to accept advice given and to keep the appointments v/hich are made for them. In addition, she acts as Tuberculosis Health Visitor, She attends the out-patients sessions at the Sanatorium, and is in constant contact vd.th the Area Chest Physician. DMUNIZATION; The importance of Immunization against Diphtheria was stressed by all persons working in the Public Health Service in the Area, throughout the year. These days quite a high proportion of the Diphtheria Immunization is combined with immunization against Y/hooping Cough, It is done by Private Practitioners, by the Doctors at the Welfare Clinics, and by myself in the Schools, Appendix B, Table III shows the number of immunizations carried out during the year. In addition, the percentage of children immunized during 1953 is also given, A percentage of 75% is needed to ensure that the child population can be regarded as protected from a potential outbreak* The percentage for Somerset as a whole is only 57%f and that for the Chard Rural District is even lower - 5^» Two factors are mainly responsible for this potentially dangerous position. First the success of the campaign over the last 12 years has produced a state of indifference amongst a generation of parents to whom Diphtheria is merely a name v/ith no memories* The second factor is the interference each summer with the Immunization Campaign due to the incidence of Polio, It is obvious, therefore, that there is no room for complacency and we are endeavouring to encourage parents to have all their cMldren immunized before the age of one year, and I hope when I next report that I will be able to say that the percentage for our District has improved, VACCINATION! Appendix B, Table IV, shows details of the Vaccinations carried out in the District, This is a slight improvement on the previous year, but is still not enough. As I pointed out last year. Vaccination is a necessity for all entering the Armed Services, most Boarding Schools, and for travel abroad. In addition, in these days of easy air transport from countries vrhere Smallpox is endemic, the potential danger of an outbreak in England is very real, I strongly axivise parents to look ahead, and have their children vaccinated as soon as possible after birth. The history of Smallpox is interesting. It has existed in the East from remotest times, and has left its signature on many an Egyptian Mummy, The Crusades of the 11th and 13th Centuries spread this scourge to the West, and early in the - 3 -