[Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Essex County Council.
- Essex County Council
- Date:
- 1948
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Essex County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![County Council in a large detached residence known as Ardmore, at Buckhurst Hill. Essex. The object of this hostel is to provide accommodation for 18 mothers (either : married or unmarried) and their babies, who, after confinement have difficulty inij coping with their immediate future. Whenever the accommodation has not been fullyvI taken up with these types of cases, it has been the practice from time to time also tccjl admit into the hostel ante-natal or post-natal mothers in need of rest and convalescence, and in an extreme case of urgency a small toddler might occasionally be admitted with one of these mothers. The resident staff at the hostel consists of a matron who is a State Registered! Nurse and State Certified Midwife, an assistant nursery helper, and a cook-housekeeper: This comparatively small staff is explained by the fact that each mother is expected to look after her own infant and help with some of the routine domestic work in the: ] hostel. The medical supervision at Ardmore is carried out by Dr. E. C. Dayus, a general practitioner in Buckhurst Hill, who pays a regular monthly visit and, in addition, is? called in as required in the event of illness. On Saturday, 31st January, 1948, a telephoned message was received at County* Hall, Chelmsford, from the matron at Ardmore to the effect that Dr. Dayus had called at the hostel that day and had diagnosed four infants named H., T., V. and Do., to be suffering from colds and bronchitis, and recommended that all further admissions of: new infants to the hostel should therefore be temporarily suspended. The four ill infants were being kept isolated in separate rooms away from the other infants. Excluding the four ill infants there were seven other well infants in the hostel on thee morning of 31st January, 1948, but four of these, of whom two were twins named C. were discharged in the ordinary way in the care of their mothers to their own homes later in the day in accordance with routine arrangements made a few days earlier. | Thus by the afternoon of 31st January, 1948, there were only the four ill infants and j three other wTell infants remaining in the hostel. Dr. Dayus continued in attendance during the next few days and although theyrl all exhibited some initial transitory pyrexia and increased respirations they appeared | to be steadily improving. On 5th February, 1948, however, infant V. suddenly appeared to become worse1 and in consequence of this Dr. Dayus recommended that infant V. and also infants? H. and T. should be transferred to hospital with the provisional diagnosis of bronchitis'] in each case. Infant Do. in the meantime had practically recovered and was retained : at Ardmore. The three infants H., T. and V. were therefore transferred to St. Margaret’s Hospital,. i Epping, where they arrived about 6.15 p.m. on 5th February, 1948. They were seem and examined in the Receiving Room by a resident House Physician and were admitted ( as cases of bronchitis to an open ward in Hut I, which is the Children’s Ward in this 4 hospital. The following are brief details of the clinical findings on admission :— Infant H. (age 12 weeks) . . Dyspnoea. Respiratory System,. Dullness, bronchial breath- i ing left lower lobe with decreased air entry. Abdomen, Liver edge palpable, C.N.S. N.A.D.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29196048_0018.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
