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(b.) Non-infectious and Accident Cases.—The efficient ambulance
service of the London County Council is available for cases of accident,
sudden illness and also for maternity cases. The ambulances of the
London County Council may also be utilized, on payment, for the removal
of non-infectious cases to hospitals or homes.
CLINICS AND TREATMENT CENTRES.
(a.) The Violet Melchett Infant Welfare Centre.—Chairman of
Council: Violet, Lady Melchett, D.B.E. Hon. Treasurer : Mrs. Hartnell; Hon. Secretary : Miss M. Bowden-Smith.
This Institution, controlled by a Voluntary Council with headquarters
in Wellington Street, adjoining the Town Hall, was completed in February,
1931, and formally opened by H.M. The Queen on 26th March, 1931.
The Violet Melchett Infant Welfare Centre maintains the Maternity
and Child Welfare services in the Borough and embodies the activities
of the Chelsea Health Society, the Chelsea Day Nursery and the Chelsea
Mothercraft Training Home.
The magnificent building, with the land on which it stands and a
considerable portion of its equipment, was a gift of the late Lord Melchett
as a memorial to Lady Melchett's life-long work for Infant Welfare.
The building comprises two rectangular two-storey blocks, fronting
Manor and Flood Streets, respectively, linked together by a one-storey
administrative block in Wellington Street. In the latter the routine
work of an Infant Welfare Centre is carried on. The accommodation
provided in this unit includes a large central hall, with surrounding consulting-rooms
ami dressing rooms. There is also a perambulator store, an
open-air court with a garden where children may play while awaiting
medical inspection, ample office accommodation and, in rear, a threestorey
block to accommodate the staff.
The Chelsea Day Nursery is housed in the Flood Street block, the Manor
Street block being utilised as the Chelsea Mothercraft Training Home.
The Day Nursery provides accommodation for fifty children. In addition
to two large nurseries for infants and toddlers, there are bathrooms,
a kitchen and an enclosed garden for the children to play in.
The Mothercraft Training Home provides accommodation for six
nursing mothers with their babies, on the occurrence of lactation difficulties,
also for twelve babies suffering from digestive disorders and
for three fatherless breast-fed babies whose mothers are employed as maids
in the Home. In addition, a nursery is available to which nursing mothers
may come during the day for test feeds or observation. The wards open
on to a balcony and roof garden.
The Violet Melchett Infant Welfare Centre is supported by (1) voluntary
contributions (2) an endowment of £500 per annum generously provided
by Lady Melchett herself (3) financial grants from the Ministry of Health
and the Borough Council. A further source of income arises from the
fees paid by pupils and parents.