[Report 1955] / Medical Officer of Health, Lincoln City.

  • Lincoln (England). City Council.
Date:
1955
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1955] / Medical Officer of Health, Lincoln City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/90 (page 3)
    To: The Right Worshipful the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the City and County Borough of Lincoln. City Health Department, Beaumont Fee, Lincoln. October, 1956. Mr. Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors, I have the honour to present my Annual Report on the health of the City for the year 1955, being my first full year as your Medical Officer of Health. Staff. The post of Deputy Medical Officer of Health remained vacant through¬ out the year, but the post of Nursing Superintendent was filled during March by the appointment of Miss M. Davies. Mrs. Wallhead, one of the Tuberculosis Visitors, retired in December after many years of loyal and dedicated work in the interests of the tuberculous patients in the City. No response was obtained to repeated advertisements for a District Sanitary Inspector, but a fortunate contact between the Chief Sanitary Inspector and a colleague resulted in one being recruited. Appreciating the position as likely to worsen with increasing duties of Sanitary Inspectors under present and projected legislation, the Committee decided to recruit and train a Pupil Sanitary Inspector as a regular feature of their staff. The demand on the District Nursing Service increased steadily and two additional appointments were authorised. The Home Help Service, which often acts as the “ supporting arm ” of the District Nurse, sustained increasing demand throughout the year without any seasonal alleviation. The original intention of the Service to provide aid in an emergency appears to be changing to one in which help is expected as a continuing feature of a patient’s care. Neither the District Nursing Service nor the Home Help Service can be an alternative to Hospital nursing when continuous care is essential, although the difficulty of providing Hospital beds for the aged sick forces this development. Policy. The decision of the City Council early in the year to amalgamate the staff of the School Health Service with the Health Department, has resulted in a framework which should ensure continuity in the care of the family group and provide a Child Health Service rather than a dual Infant Welfare and School Health Service. It will take some time for the new alignment to function satisfactorily, but the union of my Report as Principal School Medical Officer with the Report of the Medical Officer of Health for the first time confirms the pattern for the future. Mental Health. During the year the Committee decided to press for the erection of a new Occupation Centre for the Mentally Handicapped in the City, being