[Report 1964] / Medical Officer of Health, Canterbury Borough / City & County.

  • Canterbury (England). City & County Council.
Date:
1964
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1964] / Medical Officer of Health, Canterbury Borough / City & County. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The Right Worshipful the Mayor, the Aldermen and the Councillors of the City and County of Canterbury. I have the honour to present the Annual Report for the year 1964 which as is usual, includes the Report of the Chief Public Health Inspector, the Report of the Medical Director of the Child Guidance Clinic and my Report as Principal School Medical Officer for the City. Reference was made in the 1963 report to the influence of the new University which is bound to be experienced in the life of the City and its citizens. During 1964 it was made clear to us that the centres for higher education already established in the City are playing a part in our community life. Not only was this shown by the lighter side of student life but by the contribution to welfare services made by the students. Attention was drawn to the need for a greater interest in students who have come to the City from overseas. The development of a post graduate Medical Centre which will serve a large part of Kent and is centred on the Kent and Canterbury Hospital is an event of some significance to the health services. The quality of medical care in the general medical services, hospital services, and local health services alike is enhanced by post graduate opportunities for furthering medical knowledge. The catholicity of professional membership which includes dentists and veterinary surgeons as well as medical practitioners widens these opportunities. Too often we are dependent on a return to the training school or to main university centres for vocational stimulus. A peripheral unit such as this one deserves the full support of the professions and the local community alike. There has been an appreciable pressure of public opinion to develop an exfoliative cytology service and by the end of 1964 it was possible to estimate that the training of the necessary technicians to work under a Consultant Pathologist to carry out the examination of the smear tests will allow the development of this service in 1966. The success of such a service will depend upon the full understanding of its advantages as well as its limitations and the part to be played by the Local Health Authority will be that of providing’clinic facilities and staff and of carrying out the health education necessary to ensure beneficial use. The general medical practitioners have always been and will remain the heart of a good health service and the present discontent with the contract and conditions of service in general practice must be viewed with apprehension. It can sour that precious quality, the mutual respect between patient and doctor which en-