Health Visitors Sm,—Dr. A. E. Moore, in his letter to
the Spectator of August 15th, speaks of the visitors of the Ministry of National Insurance, who call at the homes of persons claiming sickness benefit as " health visitors." This designation is wrong and most misleading. Health visitors are employed by Local Health Authorities to carry out duties under Section 24 of the National Health Service Act, which states:—
" It shall be the duty of every local health authority to make provision in their area for the visiting of persons in their homes by visitors, to be called health visitors,' for the purpose of giving advice as to the care of young children, persons suffering from illness and expectant or nursing mothers, and as to the measures necessary to prevent the spread of infection."
Health visitors have no connection whatever with ,the Ministry of National Insurance. ••The visitors referred to by Dr. Moore are usually clerks from the local offices of that Ministry; they are not health visitors nor designated as such, and have no right to use this title, which is the prerogative of highly-trained State-registered nurses with special public-health training and qualifications.—Yours faithfully, M. K. KNIGHT. Secretary to the Public Health Section. The Royal College of Nursing, Henrietta Place, Cavendish Square, W.I.
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