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16
age of retirement, to which reference is made in my Interim Report for 1941, have
continued to be applied throughout the year. There have been a number of vacancies
which could not be filled at once—amounting on an average to about five per cent.
of the total positions. These vacancies increased during the winter months when
a high proportion of staff were absent on account of sickness. As practically no
casual labour was available, some of the hospitals were seriously short of domestic
staff and had to work at times under considerable difficulties.
Many members of the medical staff have resigned to join the Services, others
have been called up. In some cases their places have not been filled and, in others,
less experienced staff have been appointed, but, by dint of hard work by everyone,
an adequate service has been maintained.
The existing arrangements for the consultant and specialist service, which are
normally subject to annual review, will be continued for the period of the war,
subject to review, as may be necessary, at any time.
During the year the call-up of 46 more male and female clerical officers from the
already seriously depleted experienced staff has added considerably to the difficulty
of carrying on efficiently the many and increasing duties of the stewards' offices.
Temporary staff have been engaged as substitutes, but for the most part it has been
necessary to recruit employees either under or over military age or married women,
some on a part-time basis, with little previous experience of clerical work. Obviously,
these, in general, lack the knowledge and training of the clerks who have gone, and it
is therefore largely due to the willing acceptance of added responsibility by the
stewards, assistant stewards and remaining experienced clerks that the service has
been able to operate satisfactorily.
About 1,000 members of the hospital permanent staff were serving with
H.M. Forces on 31st December, 1942, including 40 medical officers, 70 female and 160
male nurses, 500 porters, 180 clerks and 50 miscellaneous grades. Nine members
of the staff with experience in engineering have been released for work in war industry.
In addition, 280 temporary staff of all grades had left to undertake war service.
Ten members of the staff have been killed in action or have died on war service.
Two preliminary training schools for female student nurses and one for assistant
nurses have been opened, necessitating the employment of a few units of additional
tutorial staff.
The parks department and the mental health services have continued to supervise
the food production work at hospitals, and further areas have been brought
under cultivation, involving the employment of additional staff. Considerable
use has been made of the Women's Land Army as a convenient and efficient source of
labour.
With a view to effecting economies of essential drugs in the hospitals and to
increasing the use of alternative pharmaceutical preparations made in the hospital
dispensaries, a new position of supervisory pharmacist has been instituted as a
temporary measure.
Arising out of representations made by the Chartered Society of Massage and
Medical Gymnastics to the Council and other local authorities regarding the rates
of pay and conditions of service of massage staff, consultations were held with
representatives of the other authorities in the home counties. As a result, improved
scales of pay were adopted for massage staff in the hospitals service, involving an
annual cost to the Council of approximately £5,000.
With a view to facilitating recruitment and fluidity of labour during the war,
the rates of pay of domestic assistants in hospitals outside the London area were
brought up to the London rate. At the same time it was decided to discontinue
the division of the grade of laundry-women into two classes and to recruit no further
laundry-women, class I. The rate of pay adopted for the grade of laundry-women
in the hospitals service is the same as that for domestic assistants. The ultimate
cost of these changes will be approximately £7,550 a year.