[Report 1943] / Medical Officer of Health, Derbyshire County Council.

  • Derbyshire (England). County Council
Date:
1943
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1943] / Medical Officer of Health, Derbyshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Chaddesden War-time Day Nursery, Reginald Road. This Nursery is of the hutted type and has proved very satis- faetory in operation, both the building and the site being most suitable. The Nursery opened on March 22nd, 1943, and rapidly filled up, there being over forty children on the register by June, and this level has been maintained. The average daily attendance for the nine months of the year the Nursery was open was 28.3 children. The nursing staff consists of a Matron (S.R.N.), Senior and Junior Staff Nurses, Warden, and four Nursery Helpers. The domestic staff consists of a cook and a part-time cleaner. Frecheville War-time Day Nursery, Birley Moor Road. This Nursery is also of the hutted t3rpe, but the building is of a different construction from the one at Chaddesden and has not so smart an appearance. The site is also rather exposed, but we had little choice, and it is quite central—being on the main road. The Nursery was opened on March 31st, 1943, but the number on the register did not reach thirty until September, and had only reached 33 by the end of the year. The average daily attendance for the nine months of the year the nursery was open was 17 children. The nursing staff consists of a Matron, Staff Nurse, Warden, and four Nursery Helpers. The domestic staff consists of a cook and a part-time cleaner. Two Part-time Day Nurseries were opened at Holmewood and Shirland at the beginning of the war, and were taken over by the County Council on April 1st, 1942. These two Nurseries had been originally planned for evacuees, being open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., and could accohimodate 24 children each. In time, however, the evacuees either returned home or were transferred to the local infants’ schools, and the numbers were considerably depleted. The Ministry of Health decided that the Nirrseries were no longer justified, and the^i^ were accordingly closed—Holmewood on April 2nd, 1943, and Shirland on May 28th, 1943. Health in War-time Day Nurseries. While all the usual childish ailments have been met with, no nursery has had to close. The children are examined on arrival each morning and any suspicious cases are sent home again, and this has no doubt helped to keep the sickness rate down. Residential Nursery Units are established in large ])rivate houses and are part of the evacuation scheme. Children under five years old, in whose ease there are special circumstances, are recommended by the W.V.S. in evacuation areas for billeting in Residential Nurseries or Nursery Units.