[Report 1937] / Medical Officer of Health, Salop / Shropshire County Council.

  • Shropshire Council
Date:
1937
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1937] / Medical Officer of Health, Salop / Shropshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    34/78 (page 32)
    Hostels for unmarried mothers and their infants.—An arrangement is in force with the Mrs. Legge Memorial Home, Wolverhampton, by which patients are admitted for six months, the County Council paying £2 a week for the first six weeks, the expense of the remainder of the period being borne by the Home. One case was sent during the year. Institutional Treatment of expectant and nursing mothers and their infants suffering from Venereal Diseases is carried out under the Venereal Diseases Scheme at Cleveland House, Wolver¬ hampton. Six cases were sent during the year (see page 49). MATERNITY AND NURSING HOMES. Registration.—Any person carrying on a nursing home without having had it duly registered is liable to a penalty. Application for registration must be made to the Local Supervising Authority, namely, the County Council, on a prescribed form accompanied by a fee of 5/-. The Local Supervising Authority has power to grant exemption from registration in certain cases, and registration has not been insisted upon in the case of the following Institutions :— Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, Shrewsbury. King Edward VIE Memorial Sanatorium, Shirlett. Lady Eorester Hospitals, Broseley and Much Wenlock. Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry. Royal Salop Infirmary, Shrewsbury. Inspection.—The Inspector of Midwives is also the Inspector of Nursing Homes, and she makes a report after each visit. An effort is made to visit each Home once a quarter. She is. also required to inspect and report fully upon any Nursing Home in respect of which an application has been made for registration. During the year sixty-seven inspections were made. Accommodation provided.—During the year one new nursing home was registered and three were closed. The keeper of one of these Homes left the County, and the keepers of the other two surrendered their certificates of registration. No. of Homes taking general cases only . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Patient accommodation :—111 beds a'nd 6 cots. No. of Homes taking maternity cases only . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Patient accommodation ;—17 beds No. of Homes taking both maternity and general cases . . . . . . . . 15 Patient accommodation ;—147 beds and 3 cots. In all, therefore, there are 32 Homes on the Register, the total patient accommodation being 275 beds and 9 cots. TUBERCULOSIS. Dr. Watkin comments as follows :— “Anti-Tuberculosis measures in this County cannot be considered satisfactory until two further steps are taken. There is, in the first place, an urgent need for bringing into operation the scheme for better accommodation for advanced cases of Tuberculosis. The eleven beds at Prees Heath Sanatorium, though admirable for this purpose, are quite inadequate in number and have of necessity to be used only for women. There is, therefore, no proper provision for men, and they have to be placed in open-air shelters at the- County Council Hospital or one or other of the Public Assistance Institutions. To treat very ill or dying patients in these shelters is very far from satisfactory, as, although a free circulation of fresh air is essential, these patients also need warmth and comfort and nurses always at hand to attend to their needs. Proper nursing supervision when each patient is in a separate shelter is well nigh impossible. The second need is for an arrangement by which operative treatment for pulmonary disease may be made available for the small proportion of patients requiring it. As a result of recent advances in surgical 1 now]edge, it is now ]:ossible to effect a cure in certain cases where former!}^ there was little room for hope. 'i he Put lie Heakti C ommittee has agreed to the proposal in principle, and it is hoped that an arrangement may be made with some institution within easy reach of Shropshire.’’