[Report 1962] / Medical Officer of Health, Surrey County Council.

  • Surrey (England). County Council.
Date:
1962
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1962] / Medical Officer of Health, Surrey County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    59/96 (page 57)
    Typical combinations of failings and difficulties, expressed in group form, experienced by families were as follows :— Groups. No. of Families. Percentage of all Families. Groups. No. of Families. Percentage of all Families. Nos. 2 and 3 ... 202 53.0 Nos. 1, 2 and 3 112 29.4 Nos. 1 and 3 ... 151 39.6 Nos. 1 and 4 ... 96 25.2 Nos. 1 and 2 ... 141 37.0 Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 51 13.4 Nos. 3 and 4 ... 139 36.5 Nos. 1. 2, 3, 4 and 6 10 2.6 Nos. 2 and 4 ... 130 34.1 Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 1 .3 The percentages in each of the three tables above add up to more than 100 because most families were included under two or more headings or groups of headings. These 381 families are all known to the Health Visitors for their districts and the latter in addition are giving special attention and support to a further 671 families which have not been considered by a Co-ordinating conference. Children of Problem Families. At the end of 1962 there were 1,532 children of problem families. Some of these children were in care or in Part III accommodation as will be seen from the following table :— Total No. of Children. In Care. In Part III Accommodation. Total in Care and Part III Accommodation. For reasons of family failure. Other reasons. For reasons of family failure. Other reasons. For all reasons. Percentage of total No. of children. 1,532 62 21 13 — 96 6.3 Rehousing. Thirty one families were rehoused during the year. Special Home Helps. During 1962, problem families received the services of special home helps amounting in all to 2,879 hours. In addition, 4,344 hours of service were given to other problem families by ordinary home helps. The average number of families who were helped in this way was about 18 each quarter. At the end of the year 26 special home helps were available for duty with problem and failing families. When working with these families they receive an extra 4d. per hour but at other times they are employed and paid as ordinary home helps. Family Social Service. The combined establishment of almoners for chest clinic work and divisional social workers for problem families and the prevention of the break-up of families remained unchanged at \1\ (see work of chest clinics, page 52). The establishment included one Family Service Unit worker who resigned during the year and who was replaced by a social worker appointed by the County Council. Because of the increased demand for professionally trained social workers difficulty was experienced in filling vacant posts so that during the latter part of the year there was some diminution of the work. The social workers continued to meet regularly for group discussion with the Care Organiser and Deputy Care Organiser, inviting to their meetings from time to time colleagues from the other closely allied county services. With the co-operation of the Medical Director of the Cassell Hospital, Ham, several of the social workers met together regularly for case discussion under the guidance of one of the consultant psychiatrists of the Hospital. Training Homes. Seven problem families were admitted to Frimhurst Recuperative Home at Frimley for training. Recuperative holidays were arranged for three families, one at Frimhurst and two at other institutions. Although the principal responsibility for the co-ordination of the work in connection with the prevention of the break-up of families rests with the Divisional Medical Officers, other County Officers and officers of district councils, together with the various voluntary and statutory organisations, are also associated with this work and my thanks are due to them for their close co-operation and assistance without which successful work in this field would be impossible.