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Although the item of legitimacy is dealt with, it is not made
a test for admission. It would appear desirable that this enquiry
should be deleted; it may hinder a mother of an illegitimate child
from placing the child in Claremont, and it is well known that these
illegitimate children, with their excessively high mortality, are
those for whom the help of a creche is specially required.
It is very necessary that each new child should be seen by a
doctor before or soon after admission, and a fairly full note taken.
There is kept a daily register of all the attendances. The
register has spaces for the child's name, the address at which the
mother works, the amount of the daily payments and the total
weekly payments.
Usually the weekly payments lie between £4 and £5, but have
occasionally amounted to nearly £5 15s. 0d.
During the investigation it was ascertained that the staff did
not have fire drill or fire practice, nor apparently had any welldefined
fire routine or fire stations been adopted and circulated
amongst the staff.
A fire chute runs from the creche to the street, and is said
to have been tested six times during the last four years " to see
that it worked properly."
No member of the staff is on the State Register of Nurses.
No member of the staff has had fever hospital or general hospital
experience.
Two members of the staff have certificates. One has a certificate
from St. Christopher's Nursery Training College, Tunbridge
Wells, granted after examination in 1913. The other has a certificate
from the National Society of Day Nurseries, granted after
examination in 1919. The Matron, Sister, and Probationers are
extremely solicitous about the welfare of their infants, and look
after their charges exceedingly well. They are very well spoken
of by the mothers.