Britain: An official handbook > 1959

SOCIAL WELFARE
I49
authority to provide for immunisation against tetanus. In 1957 there were only 6
deaths from diphtheria in England and Wales, as against 2,641 in 1941, and in
Scotland, none as against 517 in 1941.
Vaccination against poliomyelitis, which was introduced for children in 1956
and made available to some adults in 1957, is being extended in 1958 to all persons
up to the age of 25 years as well as to certain others. BCG vaccination against
tuberculosis is available to certain adults and children.
Health Centres
A few health centres have been established, differing widely in size and character
according to local need. Experience shows that they are likely to be most successful
in areas of housing development where new services are needed. The need to
observe the working of the experimental centres already provided and to conserve
scarce resources is likely to prevent any general expansion of the service in the near
future. In Scotland, the provision of health centres is not the responsibility of local
health authorities but of the Secretary of State for Scotland.
HEALTH SERVICES IN NORTHERN IRELAND
In Northern Ireland the historical development of the health services has taken
broadly the same course as in other parts of the United Kingdom and the Health
Services established under the Health Services Act (Northern Ireland), 1948, corre¬
spond fairly closely to the medical care system established under the National
Health Service in Great Britain. The essential principle is that the same range of
services shall be available to citizens in Northern Ireland as in England, Wales and
Scotland. The Services in Northern Ireland are financed as in the rest of the
United Kingdom.
In hospital administration the role of the central Government is not quite so
immediate or direct as in Great Britain, and hospital property, for example, is vested
not in the Minister of Health and Local Government but in the Northern Ireland
Hospitals Authority. The Hospitals Authority has under its control 64 hospitals
and three special care institutions containing in all about 15,000 beds.
The Tuberculosis Service is on a separate footing from the main Hospital Service,
having been established a little earlier to deal urgently with a serious tuberculosis
problem. The Northern Ireland Tuberculosis Authority, which was constituted for
the prevention of tuberculosis and the care of tuberculous patients by the Public
Health (Tuberculosis) Act (Northern Ireland), 1946, has seven hospitals under its
control.
Vaccination against smallpox is compulsory in Northern Ireland but otherwise
the range of preventive and domiciliary services is similar to that existing in Great
Britain. Domestic help (whole-time or part-time) for aged or handicapped persons
and expectant mothers is provided by county welfare authorities under the Welfare
Services Act (Northern Ireland), 1949.
VOLUNTARY AID FOR THE SICK AND HANDICAPPED
A number of voluntary organisations provide services of various kinds for sick
and handicapped persons in co-operation with, or supplementary to, the provision
made by central and local authorities. Some convalescent homes, for instance, of a
type outside the scope of the hospital service, are administered by such bodies. In
many areas invalid children and others needing care in their own homes are visited
and helped by voluntary organisations. Though the need for material aid from