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79
Maternity Hospital Accommodation.—Reference was made last year to
the difficulty sometimes experienced by Westminster women who desired
to have their confinements in hospital. So great is the demand for beds
in Westminster by women from other districts that the accommodation
left for those who live permanently in the city has become extremely limited.
The Public Health and Maternity and Child Welfare Committee considered
the various aspccts of this question together with particular
instances and decided that it was desirable to make further provision.
Negotiations were begun with the Westminster Guardians in regard to
setting apart a portion of their maternity ward to receive cases recommended
by the Council. Whilst the financial proposals were not unacceptable
to either party it was not found practicable to split up the
maternity ward and to make the necessary structural alterations as
required by the Ministry of Health. The committee then discussed
proposals with the Governors of Westminster Hospital who had recently
increased their maternity beds from 4 to 15. It was finally decided to
enter into an agreement with the hospital whereby accommodation
will be provided for a number of women not exceeding 100 per annum.
The cases to be admitted are limited to those recommended from the
Maternity and Child Welfare Centres of the Council and the Westminster
Health Society. While those patients who could afford would contribute
to the cost of their treatment and maintenance in the hospital, the Council
will provide a fixed contribution at the rate of £150 for cases up to 100
in number for a yearly period. The Maternity and Child Welfare Sub-Committee
of the Council is to consider each case and will assess the contribution
which each patient may be expected to pay to the hospital. The
almoners would collect such sums direct from patients. The scheme does
not provide for any beds to be specially reserved, but it goes a long way
to securing accommodation if the patients attend the hospital and book
for in-patient treatment at a reasonably early date. These are the main
points of the Council agreement which received the formal sanction of
the Ministry of Health and will operate as from 1st January, 1929. The
scheme will be provisional for a preliminary period of six months.
The Widows' and Orphans' Contributory Pensions Act, 1925.—
The Local Authority may, in cases of desertion of a child or in the case
of an orphan, administer the payment on behalf of the child. No cases
have so far been reported to the Council.
Ante-natal Work.—The supervision of expectant mothers is recognised
to be of increasing importance, and for this purpose it is extremely
desirable that they should avail themselves of the expert advice obtainable
at the centres and at the hospitals. The following table shows the
number of cases which were dealt with through the various centres and