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50
Ancillary Staff in Child Health Services
Clinic auxiliaries and Clinic Nurses continue to make a valuable contribution
to the nursing services, by enabling Health Visitors to be relieved of duties which
do not require their specialised training.
After a period of in-service training, the majority of clinic nurses become
School Nurses, and undertake duties offering greater responsibility and scope.
There are always a number of student Health Visitors sponsored by the Borough
who originally began as Clinic Nurses.
District Nursing
In April 1971 the District Nursing Service came under the direct control of
Lambeth Council, having previously been provided on an agency basis by the
Lambeth District Nursing Service with the help of a grant from the Council.
Discussions took place before the appointed day to make the change over as smooth
as possible so that neither patients nor staff should suffer in any way. The
Health Directorate was most grateful to both Miss L. Baker and Miss E. Keetley
her deputy for the tremendous help given prior to April 1971 and was sorry
indeed to know that both would be retiring before this date.
The district nurses continued as previously to cover the hours from 8.30 am10
pm seven days a week. During these hours requests for nursing are made
through the nursing officers and telephoned to the nurse concerned when the
nurses meet in their centres each afternoon to collect the details of new
patients and organise the following days work. During the night hours and the
week ends, callers are connected by Emergency Control to the nursing officer
on call. In this way it hoped that in having only one number to ring, requests
for nursing service, mostly from general practitioners and hospital, are made
simple for the caller.
The total number of nursing staff transferred to Lambeth Council in
April was 53 full and 7 part-time. This included all grades of the full time staff,
one was appointed to the post of Area Nursing Officer, and two to Centre
Nursing Officer posts.
Five were Bathing Attendants who continue to work to the District
Nurses and were joined by those who previously worked to the Old Peoples
Visitor.
During the year the numbers of both nursing and ancillary staff have
increased. This was necessary firstly because of the demand from general
practitioners for attachment schemes; secondly because of the need to offer
staff more refresher courses and study days, both important in these days