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41
Home Helps.—The St. Pancras Home Helps Committee provides domestic assistance
for families when the mother is incapacitated through sickness or child-birth. The Borough
Council makes an annual grant to the Committee of £150 for use in respect of maternity
cases only.
During the past year 77 cases were dealt with, 36 being sickness and 41 maternity
cases.
Three permanent helps were employed for 809 days.
Three temporary helps were employed for 208 days, and four emergency helps for 46
days. A total of 1,063 days of service.
The requests for the services of these women came from Nursing Associations and
Midwives, Infant Welfare Centres, Medical Practitioners, the Town Hall Health
Visitors, etc.
Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contruiutory Pensions Act, 1925.
The duties of the Local Authority in connection with the above Act are chiefly those
specified in Section 6 (2).
The Local Authority for the County of London is the County Council; but under
Section 41 12) of the Act it is provided that the County Council may make arrangements
with any Sanitary Authority whose area is wholly or partly within the County for the
execution and performance of any of the powers and duties of the County Council under the
Act.
The question was before the Council in July last, when it was pointed out that the
organisation necessary already exists in the form of Maternity and Child Welfare Committees
of the Borough Councils, and that the work is closely connected with the ordinary work now
performed by those Committees.
It was decided that the London County Council be informed that the Borough Council
are prepared to administer Section 6 (2) of the above-mentioned Act, which will come into
force in January, 1926.
Home Nuksing.
As regards district nursing, the Borough comprises the whole of the district of the
Central St. Pancras District Nursing Association, and large portions of the districts of the
Metropolitan Nursing Association, the Hampstead District Nursing Association, and the
North London Nursing Association. The associations were paid by the Council a fee of 1s. 6d.
per visit for the nursing of cases of measles, whooping cough, ophthalmia neonatorum,
infantile diarrhoea, influenza and pneumonia; but the bulk of their work is supported by
voluntary funds. The home nursing is of very great public health importance, and the need
for its extension and support from public funds is very great. The home nursing work done
during 1925 in St. Pancras is indicated by the following figures:—
No. of cases
nursed.
No. of home
visits paid.
Central St. Pancras District Nursing Association 47 500
Metropolitan Nursing Association (St. Pancras cases) 52 903
Hampstead District Nursing Association (St. Pancras
cases) 24 315
North London Nursing Association (St. Pancras cases) 12 134