London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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London County Council 1946

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]

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49
Admissions to
Public health
hospitals

The numbers of patients admitted during 1946, compared with 1938 and 1945, are shown below:—

193819451946§
Acute general hospitals173,796126,157*133,638*
Chronic sick hospitals10,014‡6,9827,022
Convalescent hospitals (adults)4,698
„ „ (children)4,25747
Convalescent fever hospitals2,94214,813†10,530†
Acute fever hospitals33,15920,825††ø14,558ø
Tuberculosis hospitals4,1631,873ø1,5180ø
Children's hospitals5,4892,8143,172
Post-encephalitis lethargica unit492323
Venereal diseases hospitals801438525
Nursery units7131,332
Epileptic hospitals237180158
Total239,605174,818172,523

* Includes Queen Mary's Hospital Sidcup. † Hospitals devoted wholly to non-fever patients.
‡ Includes 802 patients in social welfare establishments.
ø Includes general medical patients. § The figures for 1946 are provisional only.
†† Includes 3,000 patients passing through the Western Hospital in transit from evacuation
to the provinces.
Evacuated
hospital
patients
Owing to the continued shortage of staff it was not possible to complete during
the year the return to London of the remaining evacuated hospital patients. During
the year 196 patients were returned to their homes or social welfare establishments.
At the end of the year there remained about 700 such patients in hospitals in various
parts of the country.
Residential
nuseries
At the end of 1945, there were 773 cots in the Council's nurseries for children
up to two years of age, and 583 children were in residence.
Two more country establishments to which the children had been evacuated
during the war have closed, and had to be given up early in January, the children
returning to nurseries in or near London. Two further country nurseries (Basted
House, Wrotham, Kent, and The Elms, Bourne End, Bucks.) were closed in February.
To meet the ever-growing need for more accommodation, the nursery at the Downs
Hospital, Sutton (157 cots), which was partially opened in December, 1945, was
brought into full use by the end of January. A nursery unit (40 cots) was opened
at the South-Western Hospital, Stockwell, S.W.9, at the end of March.
The need for accommodation continued to grow during the year owing to the
increased number of children coming into the Council's care, and in December, 1946,
authority was given for the extension of the nursery unit at the South-Western
Hospital by 24 cots as soon as staff could be obtained. By the end of the year,
however, it had not been found possible to bring this additional accommodation into
use.

The following statement shows the position as regards nursery accommodation on 31st December, 1946:—

Total accommodationNumber of children in residence
7 public health nurseries (4 in country, 279 cots ; 3 in London, 164 cots)443 cots404
4 social welfare nurseries (in London)337 cots302
780 cots706

Of the seven public health nurseries, all but two (Easneye and Widbury House)
are in hospital buildings. Two of the remainder (South-Western Hospital and Queen
Mary's Hospital for Children, Carshalton) are in hospitals where patients are under