Report of the Committee of Management and Medical Director : 1948 / Papworth Village Settlement.

  • Papworth Village Settlement (Cambridge, England)
Date:
1948
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Committee of Management and Medical Director : 1948 / Papworth Village Settlement. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Village Settlement as have the supply services generally, such as catering, maintenance, light, heat and power, etc. The medical and nursing staff have been transferred to the employment of the Regional Board, but the Regional Hospital Board has undertaken that the medical care of the patients and ex-patients in the hostels shall be the responsibility of the National Health Service and not that of the Settlement. An agreement has been reached with the East Anglian Regional Hos¬ pital Board on the division of costs, but it is not yet possible to say how satisfactory the arrangements will prove under working'conditions. Two outstanding features of the year 1948—-to some extent related to each other—have been the introduc¬ tion of a Ministry of Labour Scheme for trainees undergoing rehabilitation at Papworth, and the colonization of a record number of patients. The for¬ mer provides for training up to a period of two years, with generous allowances for the trainees, and its fuller Implications will be dealt with by the Medical Director, in his Report. ^The Industries have continued to make satisfactory progress in all de¬ partments throughout the year. On the building side the first wing of the new South Park Hostel (20 beds), and three pairs of permanent brick- built houses were completed and occupied. Authority too was ob¬ tained for the exterior decoration of the hostels. New building, however, remains our principal difficulty, and much remains to be done If the waiting list is to be reduced to reasonable propor¬ tions. Licences for 13 more pre- [6] fabricated bungalows were obtained, but the Town and Country Planning Act which came into force on July 1st has delayed the layout scheme for these, and at the end of the year new proposals for the future development of Papworth were still only in the embryo stage. The Committee has received with great regret the resignations of Sir Edward Baron, and Mr. H.W . Dan¬ bury, two co-opted members whose advice, particularly in financial matters, has been of the greatest value on so many occasions in the past. It is pleasant to record, however, that the deep Interest which Sir Edward Baron has always taken in Papworth’s devel¬ opment remains undiminished, and he has now added to his many previous kindnesses the generous offer of £17,500 towards the cost of a new hostel for women trainees. Another gift which gave us all the utmost pleasure was a generous con- ' tribution made by H.R.H. The Princess Elizabeth from the Royal Wedding Presents Fund, thereby adding yet another kindness to the many for which we are already so deeply indeb¬ ted to members of the Royal Family. The Committee were somewhat concerned as to the fate of the Edith Edwards Children’s Home Fund, and are glad to be able to report that assurances have been received from the Ministry of Health that this Fund would not be taken over by the Regional Hospital Board. Unfortun¬ ately the Ministry also expressed the view that it would not be possible to proceed with the building of a Child¬ ren’s Hospital at the present time owing to shortage of nurses and other difficulties, and a proposal to use the