London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Battersea 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Battersea Borough]
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130
not interviewed by the Committee. The appointment was readvertised
in October without result.
During recent years very many more maternity patients have
been admitted to the general hospitals of the London County
Council. The number of admissions to St. James's Hospital has
been increasing rapidly, and in January of this year 23 beds for
maternity patients were added to the existing 47—an increase of
50 per cent. I am given to understand that when the new London
County Council hospital is opened at Tooting there will be accommodation
in it for from 80 to 100 maternity patients. The needs
for the district, therefore, as far as institutional treatment of
maternity patients is concerned, are being increasingly met by the
London County Council.
I append hereto a table shewing the average number of beds occupied at the Borough Maternity Hospital during the past three years, together with the number of Battersea patients and patients from outside the Borough, who were admitted or discharged during those years:—
| Year | Percentage of Beds Occupied | Number of Patients Admitted and Discharged | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battersea Patients | Out of Borough Patients | Total | ||
| 1935/6 | 50·3 | 341 | 118 | 459 |
| *1936/7 | 60·0 | 306 | 85 | 391 |
| 1937/8 | 61·0 | 349 | 118 | 467 |
* Hospital closed for ten weeks.
The Borough Surveyor has furnished me with a report on the
structural conditions of both Elmhurst and Westwood Tower, and
I append this for the information of the Committee.
In view of the undermentioned considerations, which are set
out in detail in this report and in the report of the Borough Surveyor,
viz.:—
(i) The recurring shortage of nursing staff during the past three
years which has rendered it difficult to provide that care
and attention to which the patients are entitled ;
(ii) The increasing provision made by the London County Council
in its hospitals for maternity patients; and
(iii) The indications that the structure of the hospital is unsound
and will require considerable expense in maintenance in
the near future,
I recommend that, subject to the approval of the Ministry of
Health, the Council's Maternity Hospital be closed down at as early
a date as possible, and that the Committee take the necessary
steps to secure this.