[Report 1944] / Medical Officer of Health, North Riding of Yorkshire County Council.

  • North Riding of Yorkshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1944
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1944] / Medical Officer of Health, North Riding of Yorkshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    In January an almoner was appointed to the tuberculosis service and during the year she made 147 visits to patients in their homes. (vi) Blind Persons. The number of blind persons (as defined in the Blind Persons Acts) on the register for the administrative County on 31st December, 1944, was 817 as compared with 826 at the end of 1943 and 806 at the end of 1942. Grants were being made to 480 unemployable blind persons at the end of the year under review in accordance with the Countv Council’s scale which was based on the following :—32/6 for a single blind person without dependants, 45/6 for a blind man with a sighted wife and 53/6 for two blind persons living together. There were 21 approved home workers, 13 approved workers at institu¬ tes for the blind ; 8 undergoing training and 14 children in attendance at special schools for the blind at the end of 1944. The North Riding (Southern Area) Voluntary Committee for the Welfare of the Blind continued their good work in their area which lies south of a line drawn from a point north of Whitby to Masham : blind persons in the remainder of the Riding received assistance from the voluntary funds made available to the Cleveland and South Durham Institute for the Blind. During the year the home teachers employed by the last named volun¬ tary body were transferred to the service of the three local government units which use this Institute. Thus the County Council at the end of 1944 employed five home visitors, but three of these are seconded to the Institute for the purposes of their day-to-day duties. The remaining two home teachers work in the southern part of the Riding and report on the general welfare of the blind direct to the County Medical Officer. (vii) The Supervision of Milk Supplies. At the end of 1944 there were in the North Riding 157 producers of tuberculin tested milk and 202 producers of accredited milk licenced by the County Council under the Milk (Special Designations) Order. The work of supervision and sampling has proceeded subject to the general difficulties of transport : particular care was taken, however, to give as much assistance as possible to new applicants to produce designated milk and the county health inspectors spent much time in the re designing of premises as well as in assisting producers to remedy faulty production methods. (viii) Civil Defence. As the impact of enemy aerial activity was confined almost entirely to “ Southern England ” the casualty services were not required to go into action. Training continued, however, and the personnel were always in a state of readiness for any call which might be made on them. In September, 1944, the Ministry of Home Security decided on partial demobilisation of the civil defence general services and by the end of the year the effective strength of the whole-time personnel was reduced from 59 to 4 in the first aid post service and from 46 to 30 in the ambulance service. The total part-time strength of these services was reduced from 1,255 to 509. Of those who were surplus to establishment, no fewer than 545 elected to remain