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Dispensary, Marine Department.

234. This dispensary, situated in the Marine Department building, in part of the premises occupied by the Port Health Administration, operates for the convenience of the Marine Department. Attendances numbered 1,144.

New Territories.

235. Including the out-patient department of St. John Hospital, Cheung Chau, to which reference has been made earlier in this report, there are eleven establishments in the New Territories providing out-patient treatment facilities. Excluding Cheung Chau, three of these have resident doctors and there are facilities for the treatment of general in-patients and maternity cases as well. At the remaining dispensaries there is a small number of maternity beds under the charge of resident midwives.

236. In addition, two travelling dispensaries operate in the rural areas from the two main centres of Taipo and Un Long, one serving the western part of the Mainland and the other the Eastern districts. Many of the islands have no regular medical attention but weekly visits are paid by the doctor stationed on Cheung Chau, to the island of Ping Chau.

237. The dispensaries in the New Territories provide not only curative services. Infant welfare, ante-natal and various special clinics are held in them by staff from the city and weekly visits are paid by officers of the Tuberculosis and Social Hygiene Services as well as by dentists and ophthalmologists.

VI.

MIDWIVES AND MATERNITY HOMES

238. During the year, 16 district maternity centres were in operation. These were staffed by 25 Government Midwives. Of these district centres, 11 have small maternity homes attach- ed. A total of 6,649 deliveries was carried out during the year, of which 2,987 were domiciliary cases. The corresponding figures for the previous year were 6,417 and 2,873.

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239. The number of registered private maternity homes in operation during the year was 132 and, of these, 56 were located in Hong Kong and 76 in Kowloon and the New Territories. These homes are generally very simple institutions and the number of beds available in each ranges from one to seven. The total number of cases delivered in the private maternity homes in 1952 was 22,666 compared with 22,338 cases in the previous year. The cases dealt with amount to about a third of the total births in the Colony,

240. The private homes are visited and supervised by the Supervisor of Midwives who is also the Medical Officer in charge of Maternal & Child Health Services.

241. Midwifery practice is governed by the Midwives Ordinance which provides for the regulation of the activities of the midwives and for their registration. The number of midwives registered in 1952 was 980, as compared with 903 in the previous year. Of those registered only 213 were in active practice. The Supervisor of Midwives throughout the year carried out regular inspections of the records and equip- ment of those in active practice.

VII. SPECIAL SUB-DEPARTMENTS

Dental

242. The activities of this sub-department, which is super- vised by the Senior Dental Surgeon, are divided broadly into two, namely, the General Dental Service and the School Dental Service. The former provides attention to Government em- ployees and pensioners and their families, in-patients of Government Hospitals and the prisons and, within its resources, those members of the general public unable to afford the services of private dental practitiouers. The School Dental Service provides attention to pupils in Government and Government- aided schools who, on payment of an annual fee of $5.00, participate in the scheme and obtain medical and dental at- tention. This applies also to pupils of private schools who pay an annual fee of $15.00.

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