[Report 1951] / Medical Officer of Health, Camborne-Redruth U.D.C.

  • Camborne-Redruth (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1951
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1951] / Medical Officer of Health, Camborne-Redruth U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/68 (page 5)
    National Health Service. There is an only too obvious danger that too much interference with the family as a unit will jeopardise its existence so necessary to a healthy productive community. It cannot be emphasised too strongly that the family as a unit is responsible for rearing its young and caring for its aged, the State assisting and if necessary taking over this role when the responsi- bility becomes excessive. Too many visits by Health Visitors, Social Workers and Inspectors of all classes and descriptions to individual families and houses may prove more dangerous than of value. Not only may excessive interference give rise to antagonism towards the Preventive Health Service but too much encouragement may be given to individual families to regard the Local Health Authority or the State as solely and directly responsible for solving the many social and health problems normal to present day community life. The most promising field for applying health educational measures lies in our schools, and it is to be hoped that in the near future the active participation of school teachers in this sphere will become one of their normal duties. Not only must the individual be taught how to keep fit but also the best methods of using the Health Services in the most economic manner if and when ill health or injury necessitate their use. For example this is the first year since the National Health Service Act became operative that the demands on the Ambulance Service in this area have been checked although the cost of this service still remains one of the highest in the country. This financial burden is borne by the ratepayer and it is obvious that excess of expenditure on one Local Authority Service can only be met by limitation of certain other necessary services. From the District Council’s point of view there are still many basic Public Health problems to be solved notably in the provision of adequate piped water supplies and sewage disposal services in certain portions of the district, the cost of which is proving more prohibitive as each year progresses. Although a necessary curb is placed on expenditure it should not be regarded as a complete and impassable banner to progress in the sanitary sense. It is pertinent to point out that the efficiency of the Public Health Department’s scavenging service can be improved by mechanisation, the cost of which would be offset by the co-ordination of the cesspit emptying service and the street gully cleansing service both of which are at present operated independently. It is disappointing to have to report again that the measures taken by the Council to ensure adequate inspection of carcase meat are minimised by the lack of co-operation or co-ordination of the various authorities concerned in production and distribution and there is little doubt that only the provision of an abattoir where animals can be slaughtered and inspected under reasonable conditions will solve this problem.