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43
On the resignation of members of the nursing staff, it was found
impossible to replace them, in spite of repeated advertisements, and
it became necessary to employ nurses from private associations.
The new regulations of the Central Midwives' Board with regard to
the training of pupils added to the difficulties of the situation, since
the number of pupils who could be trained had to be reduced to six
instead of eight as previously.
With little prospect of a permanent improvement therefore,
it became incumbent upon me as Medical Officer of Health to consider
anxiously the future of the institution. The building was
over 50 years old, and I was aware that my colleague, the Borough
Surveyor, held the opinion that to maintain the fabric in the condition
desired by the Committee would prove very expensive. In consultation,
therefore, we prepared reports upon the situation, and
these were submitted to the Maternity Committee at its first meeting
on 1st December. The reports are printed in the appendix, pages
128-33.
The Committee gave to the reports the careful and detailed
consideration which their importance warranted, and bearing in
mind the altering circumstances of hospital accommodation in
London, felt that they had no alternative but to recommend the
Council to close the hospital, and as a concomitant to terminate
the district midwifery service.
The Council adopted the report on the 21st December, and
arrangements were immediately put in hand to give effect to the
decision. Actually no patients were admitted to the hospital after
31st January, and the last patient left the hospital on 9th February,
1939.
The hospital was opened in 1921, and had therefore served the
needs of the Borough for 18 years. Purchased, adapted and
equipped at a cost of £18,851, it opened its doors to patients on
21st February, 1921. During its existence 8,842 patients were confined,
while only 10 maternal deaths occurred therein. When it
was opened, it filled a gap in the Maternity services available to
Battersea residents. Even at its close it still fulfilled a useful
function, and there was little evidence of any loss of popularity.
There is no doubt, however, that, with the increased provision made
by the London County Council, both for institutional and district
midwifery, the necessity for such a hospital was not so marked as
in its early years.
It was one of the first municipal maternity hospitals to be
established in London, and in proportion to the population served,
it was the largest but one. In comparison with some other municipal
hospitals, therefore, it is not surprising that a smaller proportion
of beds was occupied throughout the year, but consistently
year by year, the births occurring in it numbered approximately
21 per cent. of the Battersea births.
Cost of Maternity Hospital.
I am indebted to the courtesy of the Borough Treasurer for
the following statement of the cost of the Hospital during the financial
year ended 31st March, 1939 :—