[Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Barrow-in-Furness County Borough.

  • Barrow-in-Furness (England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1960
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Barrow-in-Furness County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    County Borough Health OF Barrow-in-Furness. Department. u file iol ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH. 1960. TO THE CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF THE HEALTH COMMITTEE Ladies and Gentlemen, jta itv y{) «r 1*( The past year has been one of re-orientation and experimentation. 3 One of the primary tasks of any Authority is training of staff. This Author ity is benevolent in this matter and their assistance means we have competent] well trained staff and are more liable to attract staff. During the year foui Health Visitors whose training was subsidised by the Authority completed theii. courses and were taken into the establishment. District Nurses continue to bt seconded to the area training scheme sponsored by the Lancashire Count} Council and return to their district work. In fact there is a waiting list ol District Nurses wishing to take this Queen’s Training and all who have qualified If are grateful for the opportunity and find their increased knowledge gives them a better appreciation of the many social difficulties associated with those who are i ill at home. s This enthusiasm amongst the nursing staff has been furthered by the Com-] mittee agreeing to centralise the nursing services in one building under the! supervision of a Superintendent Nursing Officer. Ail District Nurses, Health! Visitors, School Nurses and Midwives are now administered from one place where they have good working conditions and where there is ample opportunity for the] various types of nurses to co-operate. ; Two other events helped this process. In July we began using sterile]] syringes supplied by the Sterile Syringe Service of the Hospital Managementll Committee, and the Authority appointed its first full-time Domestic Helpil Organiser. Nursing staff now have time and facilities to carry out health education andli favourable comment on their work has been noted. It is their practice to portray] a theme on some health education topic and this is displayed in the windows ofj the Welfare Food Shop and the Motor Taxation Office in the town centre.] A keen rivalry exists between the nurses about this ; the public, I hope, also; accept the various challenges set before them. During the winter months I had! been able to obtain films, practically all free, which have been shown every week to nursing staff, just another facet in an effort to keep the staff aware of modern trends, newer methods and how other people work. New mental health legislation came into force during the year. A Super-] visor was appointed for the Junior Training Centre under construction and tried to assess those children in the town who would best benefit from training when the centre started. The mental health staff are now all together in one centre besides the school psychological service and next door to the Training Centre site. All work together, know and appreciate each other’s views, being ably helped by