[Report 1952] / Medical Officer of Health, Roxburgh County Council.

  • Roxburghshire (Scotland). County Council.
Date:
1952
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1952] / Medical Officer of Health, Roxburgh County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/86 (page 6)
    LOCAL HEALTH AUTHORITY FUNCTIONS (1) ADMINISTRATION. The Medical Officer of Health is also Chief School Medica Officer, The sphere of the Medical Officer of Health has now becon enlarged beyond the giving of advice regarding water supplies scavenging, air pollution, potential nuisances, the control o infectious disease, etc,, to studying all factors relating to tb health of the community. In every area there is an urgent need t discover, by careful survey, the nature and extent of the problems c health and welfare which affect it. The proper person to initiate and direct such research is th Medical Officer of Health, but with the increasing sub-division a services involving delegation to separate committees, and wit innumerable calls on his time for day to day routine administratior the Medical Officer of Health is rarely inaposition where sufficier time can be set aside to investigate problems arising automaticallj far less problems of a complicated nature which would only becon obvious on closer investigation, (2) , MATERNITY and CHILD WELFARE There are no local authority ante-natal or post-natal clinics i the area. Supervision is provided by the patient’s own doctor and tl midwife engaged, the latter usually being the local district nurse The question of routine Wassermann and Rh tests is entirely left t the patient’s own general practitioner Owing to the difficulty of obtaining staff suitably trained, i mothercraft training in groups has been carried out Mothers recei\ advice regularly during the visit of the district nurse Child Welfare Clinics are held weekly at Hawick and Galashiel: fortnightly at Melrose, Jedburgh, Kelso and Selkirk, and monthly : Newtown and St Boswells* At each session, an Assistant Medic: Officer of Health is present in addition to one of the distrii nurses (3) DOMICILIARY CARE and AFTER-CARE The demands upon the Home Help Scheme have increased to such extent that ways are being investigated to lighten the financi burden of this service. In common with other areas, the proportion elderly people in the population is increasing, with a conseque increased incidence of old people’s ailments This naturally h thrown an increased burden on the domiciliary nursing services, many of these old people are not considered hospital cases. (4) MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE The staff of the Health Department undertakes the mental heal work and the County Welfare Officer is the Authorised Officer T Authorised Officer supervises the removal to hospital of ment patients and maintains a close watch over boarded-out patients und the care of the local authority A good liaison has been maintain with the Education Department and children found at School Medic Examinations to require action under Sections 56 and 57 of t Education (Scotland) Act, 1946, are reported immediately. Visits £ paid by the staff of the Health Department to the homes of s mentally handicapped children not in institutions, and a close wal