[Report 1947] / Medical Officer of Health, Somerset County Council.

  • Somerset Council
Date:
1947
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1947] / Medical Officer of Health, Somerset County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    22/70 (page 20)
    Assisted Admissions to Maternity Homes or Hospitals. During tlie year 551 applications were received for assisted admissions to a maternity lioine or hospital. The County Council accepted responsibility for 473 of these cases, a decrease of 15 over the pjrevious year. The reasons for need of institutional treatment were:— .^nte-pai'tum luemon'hage • • • • • • 18 Actual or anticipated obstetric difficulty 198 lutercurrent disease 46 Housing or social ... • • • • • • 99 Toxiemia • • • • • • 76 Abortions • • • • • • 18 Post-natal complications ... • . • ... 16 Other conditions ... ... 3 473 Of the above, 32 Somerset women were admitted to Musgrove Park Hospital for confine¬ ment between October and December, 1947. Dental Scheme for Expectant and Nursing Mothers. This Scheme operates partly through private dental practitioners and partly through dental clinics staffed by officers of the County Council. Private Practitioners' Cases. Of the 8 denture cases uncompleted at the end of 1946, 3 were satisfactorily fitted and the patients are makaig p:-o])er use of ihcir dentures; the remaining 5 did not attend for further treatment. During 1947, 82 applications were received and 73 accepted. Of these patients, however, 3 made private arrangements, and 22 did not proceed with treatment, leaving 48 to be dealt with under the County scheme. 13 full dentures and 14 part dentures were fitted and extractions or other dental work performed for 11 patients. In each case a report has been received from a Medical Officer or Health Visitor that the work was completed or that dentures were satisfactory and in use. In the remaining 9 cases dental work is not completed and the patients are still attending for treatment. County Dental Clinic Cases. Very little dental treatment was undertaken during 1947 for these cases owing to the continued lack of suitable premises and the heavy demands on the dental officers from the school service. The small statistical table given below shows some increase over the previous year but the service is obviously inadequate. Every endeavour is being made to improve this service but the obligations imposed by the Health Act for the provision of a special priority service for this class of the population cannot possibly be met until more clinics are available. More complete details will be available for the 1948 report, which will include pre-school children, but it is apparent that a reasonably efficient service will not be established until at least 1949. High priority in providing dental clinics is vitally essential to the development of this service.