Britain: An official handbook > 1956

BRITAIN: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
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general care of the baby, and the nurture of children up to five years old. They are
also responsible for giving advice on the care of the sick and the measures necessary
to prevent the spread of infection. They, together with special tuberculosis visitors,
have a particular interest in tuberculosis. They are also employed in the School
Health Service.
Home Nursing
The employment of nurses for attending persons who require nursing in their
own homes is the responsibility of the local health authorities. Although many
authorities employ nurses directly for this purpose, others have entered into
arrangements with voluntary organizations to provide a service on their behalf.
Domestic Help
Local health authorities have the power to make arrangements for providing
domestic help in households where it is needed owing to illness, confinement, or
the presence of children, old people or mental defectives. This is not one of the
free services and authorities are authorized to recover from those assisted such
charges as the authorities consider reasonable, having regard to the person’s means.
Ambulance Services
Free conveyance between home and hospital or clinic is provided, where neces¬
sary, either directly by local health authorities or, on their behalf, by voluntary
organizations. The Hospital Car Service (organized by the St. John Ambulance
Brigade, the British Red Cross Society, and the Women’s Voluntary Services)
provides transport in many areas for patients who do not require an ambulance;
such patients are conveyed in private cars whose owners volunteer to give this
service, and the authorities make a mileage payment to the volunteers to cover their
expenses. In Scotland, ambulances are run by the Scottish Ambulance Service (St.
Andrew’s Ambulance Association and the Scottish Branch of the British Red Cross
Society) on behalf of the Secretary of State.
Mental Health Services
Persons who are suffering from mental illness can consult the family doctor and
receive specialist advice at hospital out-patient clinics in the ordinary way. If they
need to enter a mental hospital they can do so as voluntary patients with little
formality. If need be, they may be admitted under Order as temporary or certified
patients. If patients, or their relatives, are unable or unwilling to make the neces¬
sary arrangements for admission to a mental hospital, it is the duty of a duly
authorized officer of the local health authority to do so. The local health authority
is expected to offer a welfare service to such patients, whether before admission or
to help their rehabilitation on discharge.
Local health authorities have a duty to ascertain mental defectives in the com¬
munity, to supervise them and to provide, where practicable, suitable training or
occupation. This is given in occupation centres where the defectives attend daily,
as at school, or by home teaching. If supervision affords insufficient protection it
is the duty of officers of the local health authority to take the initial steps to place
such defectives under guardianship within the community or to arrange for their
admission to a mental deficiency hospital.
Control of Infectious Disease
Control of infectious disease is based on four main principles: notification,
isolation, supervision of contacts and, for some diseases, immunization. The