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nurse is attached to the scheme and necessary relief provided during her off-duty periods. The service
covers the northern part of the City and extends into adjoining boroughs.
Nursing care for members of the Royal Household is provided by one of the City Council's Home
Nurses who is resident in Buckingham Palace Mews, her relief being provided by staff from the Great
Smith Street centre. The cost to the Council is reimbursed.
The nursing staff are all trained nurses holding either S.R.N, or S.E.N, qualifications. Specialized
training in District Nursing for State Registered Nurses is given by the City Council in association with
the Queen's Institute of District Nursing. This training lasts for three or four months and students are
required to remain with the City Council for one year on completion of the course. Training facilities
have been given to students from County areas who do not run training courses themselves. During
the year the City Council participated in an Integrated Scheme for Nurse Training provided by
Hammersmith Hospital and Battersea College of Technology which provides girls with a course
incorporating State Registration, District Nursing and Health Visiting.
An examination of the nursing structure undertaken during the year led to the appointment of three
Home Bathing Attendants and approval for ten additional State Enrolled Nurses to relieve home
nurses of some of the less skilled nursing duties. By this means, a reduction will be achieved in the
number of State Registered Nurses from 42 to 34. The implementation of this new establishment
will be carried out as and when possible due to the retirement or resignation of existing staff. The
revised proposals will be somewhat more costly in the long run but will clearly make more efficient
use of the trained staff.
The District Nursing Associations have provided a nursing service to the area for nearly 100 years
and it is hoped to maintain the interest of voluntary Committees. A City of Westminster District
Nursing Association has been formed from members of the existing Associations and held its Inaugural
Meeting at 117 Sutherland Avenue, W.9., on 2nd December, 1965. The Association will take a
particular interest in the Nurses' Home and provision of amenities for patients and staff. (See Table 36,
page 68.)
LOAN OF HOME NURSING EQUIPMENT
Under a scheme for the loan of home nursing equipment, operated as part of the work of the Health
Department's Supplies Section, equipment is loaned free of charge to enable patients to be nursed
at home who might otherwise have to occupy a hospital bed.
Requests for equipment are received from general practitioners, hospitals, Welfare Department,
health visitors, district nurses, social workers, etc. The items dealt with are many and varied, ranging
from back-rests to Easi-Carri Hoists and Egerton Beds.
Westminster residents derive great benefit from the service and the Health Department is frequently
consulted by general practitioners and hospitals regarding specialized items of equipment which are
needed to enable a patient to be nursed at home. Thanks to the happy relationship which exists
between the Health Department staff and manufacturers, it is usually possible to obtain within 24
hours any item not held on stock.
The Westminster Division of the British Red Cross Society acts as the City Council's agent and
issues on its behalf smaller items of equipment, such as bedpans, urine bottles and waterproof sheeting;
the Council is indebted to the Society for their assistance in providing this service.
The loan of home nursing equipment is expanding and there is no doubt that each year the number
of items issued will increase as the service becomes even more widely known. Over 600 items are on
loan throughout the City at the present time having been issued either by the London County Council
prior to 1st April, 1965, or by the City Council since that date. This excludes the smaller items
mentioned above loaned by the British Red Cross Society.
The following statistics set out the number of items of equipment issued since 1st January, 1964:—
Period No. of Items By Whom Issued
1.1.64 to 31.12.64 287 L.C.C.
1.1.65 to 31.3.65 52 L.C.C.
1.4.65 to 31.12.65 243 Westminster City Council
Incontinence Pads
Under Section 28 of the National Health Service Act, 1946, incontinence pads are provided free and
distributed to appropriate patients visited by the District Nurses. The expansion of the scheme has
been hampered by the lack of suitable means of disposal at the persons' homes, but plans are being
studied for regular delivery and subsequent collection of used pads to centrally placed disposal points.
This will permit an extension of the present service.