Report from the Select Committee on Nursing Homes (Registration).

Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Nursing Homes (Registration)

Date:: 1926

Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report from the Select Committee on Nursing Homes (Registration). Source: Wellcome Collection.

151/284 (page 125)

29 April, 1926.] 2037. Are the bulk of qualified nurses now on the register ?—Yes, certainly. 2038. Would those be sufficient to equip or to staff the existing nursing homes in this country ?—Yes, I should think so. 2039. Al: the hospitals and all the nursing homes of the sountry?P—Do you mean the nurses on the register ? 2040. No; I mean fully trained nurses? —Yes, I think so. A large number of homes that I know have only fully qualified nurses. Of course there are others who have probationers—the smaller ones. They could have people to help if they would not call themselves nurses or probationers—some sort of helps or some- thing like that. They could relieve others of a certain amount of the less responsible duties of a sick room, if there were a shortage, but I do not think they should employ people who have never been in a hospital and call them perhaps nurses or probationers. 2041. Should those people be allowed to do anything more than clean the rooms or the house; should they be allowed to go into contact with or to do anything [or the patients?—Of course there are some things they could do for the patients, not really nursing duties, but still duties that a nurse very often does. 2042. Things that must be done?—Yes. 2043. When the official of the Ministry of Health, or whoever may be _ the registration authority, goes down to ex- amine a nursing home, roughly what are the tests which you think he or she should apply before they recommend a nursing home for registration ?>—Of course I think they should see all the house necessarily ; all the sanitary arrangements; they should see the food. I think it is very important that they should see the food, and the supplies of food and so on. We had a case the other day of someone who was a cook in a nursing home and she told me she never saw anything but frozen meat come into it. JI think that everything like that inspected. 2044. Of course, food and linen are things which vary from time to time; they might be perfectly good when the inspector called and perfectly bad within a month?—Yes, they might be, but still they would not know when the inspector was coming and they would probably strike an average. 2045. I take it you would want a frequent inspection. of every nursing ought to be 125 [ Continued. home; an inspection if it is to be of anv real value must be fairly frequent?—t should think where they found things very satisfactory on certain occasions they would probably continue so, unless the management were changed. 2046. In your opinion, are the great majority of nursing homes at present in existence in this country efficient P—Not the great majority, but I know a good many which are efficient. 2047. The majority are inefficient P—Do you class in with nursing homes all these small places P 2048. I am classing in everything ?— Yes. 2049. You have practical experience of many nursing homes from seeing them ?—- Not a great many. Of course, we are always having nurses going out from headquarters to these homes, and | have been in some myself. 2050. Have you personally come across any nursing homes where conditions were unsatisfactory?—The one ‘I spoke of a short time ago, for instance. Sir Richard Luce. 2051. How long ago was the nursing home which you were speaking about which you did not consider very satis- factory?—About 12 or 13 years ago, I should think, I was in it. 2052. Is that nursing home still going? ~—It is still going under different manage- ment. 2053. Is it still under the management of somebody who is not qualified?—I do not know that; the last time I saw it I only visited. 2054. With regard to the question of nursing homes and maternity homes com- bined, in your experience is_ that common?—I do not think it is in my experience. 2055. In provincial places is it fairly usual?—Yes; it may be more so in pro- vineial places; I should think that is probable. 2056. You spoke about the question of sepsis; in what way do you consider it was more dangerous to combine these twoP In what sort of way do you con- sider it is dangerous to combine them from a septic point of view ?—If you have a very septic case it is more dangerous for the mother. 2057. Does not that apply also to an aseptic surgical case and a septic surgical case in the same home just as much?— Yes.