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Kensington Council of Social Service for the purpose of enabling the
provision of a chiropody service for house-bound old people.
All patients are referred by the Medical Officer of Health to
the Council of Social Service which administers the financial aspects of
the scheme. The British Red Cross Society arrange the treatments,
including providing the chiropodists and making the appointments.
The total number of persons treated under the home chiropody
scheme was two hundred and forty-seven and the number of treatments given
was six hundred.
Meals Service
The arrangements for meals either delivered to old people in
their homes or in canteens were continued with great success by the
Women's Voluntary Services in conjunction with the Kensington Communal
Services Committee.
The Women's Voluntary Services undertake the work of verifying
the bona fides of applicants, arrange delivery of meals at the homes of
old people and collect the money (lOd. per meal). The Kensington Communal
Services Committee supply the meals and the vehicles for delivery.
During the year the two organisations involved gave a considerable
amount of thought to the difficulties encountered in this Service.
Among the difficulties were the problems of keeping the meals hot;
serving them (sometimes in the van); keeping the van interior clean;
avoiding waste or spillage; and washing up. Added to these troubles were
the weight and the unwieldiness of the containers. Various methods of
keeping the meals warm had been tried - water jackets, insulated containers,
charcoal blocks or preheated cabinets, but none was wholly satisfactory.
A solution of these problems was forthcoming, when the idea was
devised of developing electric containers which could be used on mains voltage
to preheat the food and then, using another circuit, operate off the vehicle
batteries to maintain the temperature of the food during its journey. An
approach was made to the Rootes Group who, in co-operation with the General
Electric Company, investigated the problem. As a result of this, it was
decided to make container units capable of carrying 20 main meals in expendable
foilpak dishes each having a 12-ounce capacity. These dishes which "nest"
in quantity are extremely light and have a modest salvage value. Pour
container units can be plugged into one vehicle.
The General Electric Company container is a neat cabinet 12½in.
wide, 8¾ in. deep and 22 in. high. It is constructed of polished aluminium
with an inner and outer case lagged by an insulating material. Unloaded it
weighs approximately 35-lb. and loaded about 55-lb. It is preheated by a
250 Watt element operating at mains voltage and the maintaining heat is
supplied by a 40 watt element operating on a 12 volt vehicle battery. For
easy servicing all the electrical components are situated in a removable
tray in the bottom of the unit. To avoid the danger of plugging the elements
into the incorrect supply voltage, the two elements are connected to dissimilar
plugs.
The containers have top and bottom doors so that food can be removed
from the top section first and the maximum heat retained in the bottom
section. The foilpak dishes are placed five to each of four removable
wire cages, each dish being completely separated from its neighbour. Extremely
light, the units are easily carried by one or two people using the handles
mounted on the sides. This is important as the containers have to be placed
in the vehicle with as little delay as possible, plugged in and switched on.
A. pilot light in the vehicle glows to indicate that they are in fact, on
circuit. The containers are fitted into metal holding trays on the floor
of the vans and strapped down to prevent them rocking during transit and
spilling food. At. the delivery point, two foilpak dishes containing a
complete meal are taken out on a metal dish covered with a close fitting dish