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Where any mother remains in the Home longer than the usual 14
days an extra 3s. a day is charged commencing on and including the
seventeenth day. If the case involves extra nursing something more
may be charged. The maximum fee charged at the Home is £4 4s.
per week, but the average fee is between £2 and £3. The most
sympathetic consideration is given to poorer inhabitants of the Borough
and a reduction is made. Consistent with efficiency and comfort, the
Maternity Home is run by the Committee as economically as can
possibly be done.
During the year the Committee drew up a Form of Application for
those desirous of entering the Home. This form contains questions as
to earnings, rent, number in family, maternity benefit, etc. and has to
be signed by the parents. To obtain a form the applicant has to visit
the Ante-Natal Clinic, Napier Street, on Tuesday or Wednesday
morning at 10 a.m., and receives the same from Dr. Hill, together
with an envelope. This is posted or delivered to the Matron at the
Maternity Home, 52 Wickham Road. The forms are brought to the
Maternity Home Ladies' Sub committee, who consider each case and
assess the same. The facts are reported to the parent Maternity and
Child Welfare Committee, who confirm the assessments. A letter is
written to the applicant informing her of the assessment and requesting
her to call at the Home to see the Matron, when she signs the agreement
on the back of the form and pays the booking fee of 10s. 6d. If a
mother demurs at the assessment, she may come to the next Sub-Committee
and state her case for further consideration. The full fee has to
be paid before the mother enters the Home.
SOME NOTES ON THE PUBLIC HEALTH YEAR.
Barbers' Shops. About the year 1904 the Guild of Hairdressers
actively took up the question of the promotion of cleanliness and
asepsis in the conduct of hairdressers' establishments, and, after
consultation with the Medical Officer of Health of the City of London,
the Guild drew up a code of regulations, the observance of which, it
was hoped, would effectively safeguard customers against those risks
which are undoubtedly present where the business of a hairdresser is
not carried on with the strictest cleanliness.