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Home Nursing.
The Home Nursing Service became the direct responsibility of the Council from
1st April, 1965, when the St. Olave's and the Southwark, Walworth and Newington
District Nursing Associations, and the Ranyard Nurses relinquished their voluntary
activities in the borough. In addition to staff from these Associations, some of the
nurses formerly employed by the Camberwell District Nursing Association also
joined the Council's service. Over sixty nurses, both Queen's and Ranyard were
involved.
The Benson Home (formerly the headquarters of the Southwark, Walworth
and Newington District Nursing Association) became the main referral centre
for all home nursing calls for the borough and was manned continuously from
8.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. A further centre was opened in the Camberwell area
during the year. For convenience the former Bermondsey, Southwark and
Camberwell borough boundaries continued to be used for the nurses' working
areas. These areas were sub-divided into smaller groups of four or five districts,
with a group leader in each.
The closest co-operation was maintained with the hospitals and general
practitioners who referred the cases.
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Statistics
New patients visited during period 1st April—31st December, 1965 2,661
Total number of visits 110,311
Nursing staff employed at the end of the year
(effective whole-time equivalent) 42
Visits per nurse (average for nine months) 2,626
A large proportion of the district nurses' time was spent with the 65+ age
group, many of whom were long-term patients requiring some routine care that
could well have been carried out by less highly qualified staff. Arrangements were
put in hand for the employment of ancillary help to enable the district nurses
to spend more time with acutely ill patients and on short term care to relieve
pressure on hospitals.
During the year eleven students completed their district nurse training for
the Queen's Roll and the National Certificate of District Nursing. Lectures were
arranged by the Queen's Institute of District Nursing and tutorials and practical
work were undertaken in the borough. Three students were from the Integrated
Nurse Training Course, Hammersmith Hospital, two were sponsored by County
Councils and six were students sponsored by the Borough.
Twenty one student nurses from Guy's and St. Giles' Hospitals, three medical
students from Charing Cross Hospital and three National Old People's Welfare
Association students accompanied district nurses on their rounds to gain an insight
into the work: three district nurses attended a Study Day arranged by the
London Boroughs Training Committee and several attended lectures arranged
by the South-East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board.
Two general meetings for the district nursing staff were held to enable them