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TABLE 26

Home bathing service
This is an integrated part of the home nursing service which
is undertaken by nursing auxiliaries who, although not qualified
nurses, are trained to undertake many tasks for patients who do
not need full nursing care. All patients receiving home bathing
service are visited at least monthly by a trained nurse.
Loan of equipment
To ensure the efficient nursing of patients in their own homes
the Council operates a scheme for lending, without charge, equip
ment as distinct from those items which can be prescribed by
general practitioners. To avoid duplication of function by the
Health Department and the Social Services Department, arrangements
were made for the latter department to control all issues
of equipment normally provided to handicapped persons. The
number of occasions on which articles were issued on loan by
the Health Department during the year is shown below:-
Beds (hospital or cot) 8
Hoists 25
Mattresses 4
Ripple beds 100
Rubber and plastic sheeting 184
The Council's provision of home nursing equipment is supplemented
by the British Red Cross Society, which provides commodes
and wheelchairs and smaller items of equipment such as air rings,
bed pans, urine bottles and crutches. The Council is continuing to
make a grant to the Society to assist in maintaining stocks of
equipment.
Incontinence pads service
The issue of incontinence pads, which are of great assistance
in the nursing of incontinent persons in their own homes, continues
and 185,900 pads were issued during the year. In addition, 56,200