[Report 1964] / Medical Officer of Health, Smethwick County Borough.

  • Smethwick (Worcestershire, England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1964
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

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

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    problem because of numbers involved and other factors. Such prob¬ lems must be overcome if it can be shown that early treatment of diabetes reduces the complication rate and increases the life span. Not everyone is as yet convinced that this has been demonstrated beyond doubt. In conclusion one would say that screening procedures will un¬ doubtedly play a greater part in preventive medicine but they should not be accepted uncritically. They should be undertaken only where there is a reliable test—the dangers of false negative screening results and the unnecessary anxieties caused by false positives do not need to be emphasised. The tests should be easily administered in an ac¬ ceptable manner to the appropriate groups of the population. A new screening survey should not be undertaken until there are ample facilities available for the detailed diagnosis follow-up of the positive results given in the preliminary screening. Of equal importance is the availability of adequate medical and hospital facilities for the treat¬ ment of the new disease found. Nothing is more undesirable than for the newly diagnosed to have to wait a long period for the treatment that has been advised. It must be established beyond doubt that the course of the disease is favourably affected by early diagnosis and treatment, or if applicable that others will not be infected so readily as in the case of tuberculosis. Finally, the patient should be assured that the inconvenience and possible discomfort of having to undergo treatment for a longer time than would otherwise be the case is wholly justified in terms of a healthier more comfortable and a longer life. MENTAL HEALTH The staff at Highcroft Hospital organised a three day refresher course for Health Visitors in January on “Mental Health and the Psychiatric Hospital” which proved of great benefit to the Health Visitors who were able to attend. The customary close co-operation with Dr. J. A. MacDonald and the medical and nursing staffs of Highcroft Hospital continued and are greatly appreciated. Mental Welfare Officers attend regular case conferences on their patients at the hospital which are most useful for the Officers and indeed for the after care of the patients. In the appropriate section of the report somwehat less detail than usual will be found, two statistical tables relating to admissions and discharges of patients having had to be omitted as all the information upon which they have formerly been based is no longer available from the hospital. Mental Welfare Officers are asked to provide after care for some of the patients discharged from hospital, the rest of whom are unknown to the Department. 1 am glad to report that the Mental Health Section of the Smethwick Club for the Handicapped has made good progress during the year—such after care facilities are difficult to get going and involve much hard work by the Mental Welfare Officers and one or two of the Health Visitors most concerned. A holiday for senior trainees attending the Albert Bradford Centre was arranged during the year. The party went to the Derbyshire Miners’ Welfare Holiday Centre at Skegness for five days and had a very en¬ joyable time.