[Report 1942] / Medical Officer of Health, Cumberland County Council.

  • Cumberland (England). County Council.
Date:
1942
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1942] / Medical Officer of Health, Cumberland County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    21/58 (page 19)
    One difficulty wliich tends to get worse is tlie problem of finding suitable houses or lodgings for nnrse-midwives. In several districts we could ha\-e filled vacancies had a house been available, but neither a house nor rooms was available. The County Council have this matter under consideration, and it may be that the Council will approach Local Sanitary Authorities throughout the area ^with a reipiest that in their future building programmes they will include the provision at selected points of houses for nurse-inidwives, possibly, in fact I should imagine probably, to-be rented by the County Council, or at least with the County Council being conceined in the matter, as a step towards solving this problem of nurse- midwi\-es in rural areas. In the Rushcliffe Report on midwives’ salaries, there is the recommendation that emplojdng authorities should provide district hostels or homes where these are practicable, or furnished or unfurnished houses, or rooms, or lodging and attendance “ to meet particularly the needs of new entrants to the domiciliary service.” Clinics and Treatment Centres. No changes have taken place under these headings during the year. Hospitals. Reference is made in other parts of this Report to various points affecting the hospital services of the area. The new hutted annexe of I-I4 beds provided by the Ministry of Health at the Cumberland Inlirmary is now a\'ailable and is parti}' in use. Difficulties in finding nursing staff and ])roviding accommodation for the increased nur.sing staff necessaiy are considerably dela^'ing the matter, but even the partial use of the annexe will be of considerable value. The arrangements between the two local authorities and the Cumberland Inlirmary for the transfer of part of the Infirmary waiting list for treatment to the City Cieneral Hospital, Carlisle, continues to be of great value, and the civilian work undertaken at the E.M.S. Hospital, at (rarlands, has also been useful. In the matter ot cancer, the opening of the new hospital block at Shotley Bridge is likelv to jirove of increasing value as time goes on. I he extensions at the \Vurk'inglf)n Infirmary remain incomplete, which is extremely unfortunate, as the number of maternity l;cd.s at this hospital, instead ol being increased, is in fact, at the moment reduced as a result of these extensions in their incomplete stage.