[Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Oxford City.

  • Oxford (England). City Council. no2012034102.
Date:
1948
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Oxford City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    is quite inadequate both in relation to staff and vehicles and plans have been prepared for a new station which it is hoped to build in the near future. The Ambulance Service now deals with all cases including accidents and infectious diseases. Health Visitors have now become Health Advisers to the whole family and efforts are being made to link their work more closely both with general practitioners and hospitals. The Home Help Service continues to flourish and appears to be the envy of many other Authorities. The range of help offered has been extended to include the chronic sick, the aged and infirm and cases of tuberculosis. The District Nursing Associ¬ ation in spite of a diminished staff, have, somehow managed to meet an increasing demand for home nursing. The question of convalescent treatment is as yet not very satisfactory. There are now no convalescent homes in this Region which provide facilities for cases recommended by Local Health Authorities and it is becoming increasingly difficult to get accommodation elsewhere. There are two sorts of convalescence provided under the Act. In the one case, convalescence is provided free of charge by the Hospital Boards for patients requiring a continuation of medical or nursing care and, in the other case, Local Health Authorities provide convalescence for patients needing rest, good food and fresh air as a preventive measure. In the latter case the patient makes payment according to an approved method of assessment. This dual responsibility and the difference in cost have on occasion given rise to misunderstanding and difficulty. The value of Health Education is now more generally accepted and the staff of the Health Department are increasingly called upon to give lectures on various health matters. In a University and Regional Hospital Centre it is natural that the Health Department should be asked to pro¬ vide teaching facilities for medical students, midwives, health visitors, district nurses, etc. and it has been a pleasure to take part in such im¬ portant educational work. The year has been a favourable one for infectious diseases. The incidence of Scarlet Fever is the lowest ever to be recorded in the City and there were again no deaths from this disease. There were only two mild cases of Diphtheria and there was a low incidence of Poliomyelitis compared with the previous year. Measles was epidemic during the year but was again mild in type and there were no deaths amongst the 1472 cases notified. There was one death in a baby amongst the 573 cases of Whooping Cough notified. The transfer of the Slade Hospital has been keenly felt, but the arrangement with the United Oxford Hospitals by which the Medical Officer of Health and his Deputy have remained in medical control has been most valuable. The incidence of and deaths from Tuberculosis have shown only minor variations during recent years. Unfortunately the National Health