[Report 1967] / Medical Officer of Health, Lincoln City.

  • Lincoln (England). City Council.
Date:
1967
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1967] / Medical Officer of Health, Lincoln City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/122 (page 3)
    The Vaccination and Immunisation programme continued as in previous years without any significant change in the number of children immunised. Although the Ministry of Health informed Local Health Authorities that measles vaccination was available, this was not introduced generally; however, children accepted for admission to the Day Nursery were offered measles vaccination before entry. The Ambulance Service again conveyed an increased number of patients, in fact the total number of patients carried was 17% greater than that of the previous year. The increase is thought to be due to three factors — conveyance of patients to and from the Day Unit at St. George’s Hospital, an increased number of cases conveyed to the Chiropody Clinic and for the first time, the conveyance of children to and from the Special Care Unit. There has been a steady rise in the number of patients carried by the Ambul¬ ance Service for the past three years and it is felt that the Service is now stretched to its limits. Despite the urgent necessity for curtailment in Local Health Authority expenditure, it is felt that there must inevitably be an expansion of the Ambulance Service in the near future if an efficient and comprehensive service is to be provided. The Chiropody Service was again fully extended throughout the year despite the fact that three Chiropodists were employed full-time for most of the year. Even with this additional staff, the demands of the elderly could not be fully met. The most recent additional Clinic Service provided by the Health Depart¬ ment — The Women’s Cytology Service for the early detection of cancer of the cervix — has now been in operation for over three years and con¬ tinues to be very well attended. It still remains a fact, however, that the less privileged and most vulnerable women in the community are often reluctant to attend the Clinic and it is necessary to take the service to them in their own homes. For this reason, two District Nurses were trained to take smears and to provide a domiciliary cytology service. It is hoped to extend this service in the future. The gradual expansion of the Home Help Service continued in 1967 and in fact, the total service provided has almost doubled in the past ten years. A particularly valuable part of the service is that provided by the Night Attendants who are employed to give relief to relatives who have often to provide care for long periods. Although difficulties are experienced in recruiting suitable women for this work, nevertheless it is a most worthwhile service which is greatly appreciated. The service which has shown the most comprehensive development in recent years has been the Mental Health Service and the opening of the Special Care Unit in January, 1967 introduced a provision which has long been needed. The number of children attending the Unit (which is part of the Junior Training Centre, Beaumont Fee) quickly rose to the maximum which could be accommodated. Although certain difficulties were experienced in transporting the children to and from the Centre, this was largely over¬ come by the adaptation of one of the ambulance vehicles and by the co¬ operation of the Ambulance Service personnel. It is again worth comparing the situation with that of ten years ago when the total number of mentally subnormal persons attending the Training Centre was 45, whereas now 128 trainees are attending. During 1967, no infectious disease gave rise to particular concern; how¬ ever, there was a sharp increase in the number of cases of whooping cough (38 compared with only 1 in the previous year). It became apparent that,