[Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Birkenhead County Borough.
- Birkenhead (England). County Borough Council.
- Date:
- 1948
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Birkenhead County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.
4/74
![The Alayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the County Borough of Birkenheail. l\Ir. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen, i have the honour to subnnt my Annual Piejjort for the year 1948. The year lias been a noteworthy one, in that it has seen the implemen- tation of the National Health Service x\ct, 1946, an Act which has brought revolutionary changes to the Health Services in this country. This Act, the conception of which goes back many years, and which is of disputed parentage, came into being after a complicated and difficult gestation, on the appointed day, viz. 5th July, 1948. As wa.s to be expected with an enactment of such magnitude and far reaching issues, the first five months of its existence have been difficnlt ones, complicated by unforeseen teething troubles, and some time must elapse before its full and successful implementation can be assured. The first six months of the year were occupied in the prej^aration and completion of the various “ proposals,” for final submission to, and approval by, the Minister of Healfli.. The completed schemes, as approved by the Minister, have been embodied in a Booklet, a copy of which has been sent to every member of the Council. Briefly, the effect of the new Act, as far as my Department is concerned, is to divorce to a large extent, preventive from curative medicine. The Health Committee loses control of their Municipal Hos])itals, the Tuberculosis and Venereal Diseases Services, the Muni- cipal Laboratory and the Welfare of the Blind. The first three of these are transferred to the Eegional Hospital Jloard; the Municipal Laboratory becomes part of the IVIedical Eesearch Council; and the Welfare of the Blind passes to the Welfare Committee. On the other hand, the responsibilities of the Health Department have been greatly extended in other directions, and several new duties lia\e been allotted to it. '.rile Amm:!l Eeport this year deals with the Services transferred to the Regional fh)S]atal Board only from 1st -lanuary, to the time when the new Act became operative, viz 51h -Inly. The exteiisions of the existing scrx’ices and the new dutic's accruing to this Dejiart- iiiciit arc dealt with iiiidei- their apjiropriate sections. In cfuichision, 1 have to acknowledge with gi-atitude the help and co-operation 1 have roc('i\-od from the ('haii'iiian and iiKMiibers of the \'arions Cfunmittees on which I have the hononi’ to serve, from my of)||c;icia*s ill other 1 )epartiiicniis, and from tlu! staff under my (control. 'I'onr obedient sei’vant, 1C C. lOSddCR. M('di(‘al OITic.cr of Healfli.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28927424_0006.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
