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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50
treatment, although the nurseries are in separate blocks. The other three are in
hospital premises which are not at present used to accommodate the sick. The
policy of establishing nurseries in hospital buildings, although open to objection,
was forced upon the Council for two reasons, viz.:—
(1) The pressing need for nursery accommodation could only be met
by establishing units at premises which were immediately available and
where little or no structural alteration was required.
(2) The shortage of suitable staff made difficult the opening of nurseries
at short notice and it was most economical for this reason to establish units
at hospitals where the services of some of the hospital staff could be utilised.
Linkage with
voluntary
hospitals
The various forms of association between the Council's hospitals and voluntary
hospitals have been continued and extended.
There are a number of wards in the Council's hospitals which, owing to the
acute shortage of staff, cannot be used, but which can be opened if voluntary hospitals
provide the domestic or more particularly nursing staff, who are either seconded or
are appointed to the Council's service. The subordinate medical staff of these units
are appointed by the Council, the senior medical staff of the voluntary hospital being
associated with the selection committee. Payment for the services of the senior
medical staff from the voluntary hospital is by way of a block grant which is distributed
by the Council to the staff concerned on the advice of the medical committee
of the voluntary hospital. The Council also reimburses the salaries and the employers'
share of any superannuation contributions of the seconded nursing and domestic
staff. The overall administrative responsibility of the Council's medical superintendent
is preserved, but clinical responsibility is with the senior staff from the
voluntary hospital.
Applications for bed accommodation in Council's hospitals are received mainly
from voluntary hospitals wishing to replace beds destroyed or seriously damaged by
enemy action, and from teaching hospitals desiring to extend their facilities for
instruction. The association between the Council's hospitals and the voluntary
hospitals has proved to be mutually beneficial.

The following associations between the Council's and voluntary hospitals were established during the year:—

Council's hospitalVoluntary hospitalParticulars of association
St. Charles' Hospital ...West End Hospital for Nervous Diseases.Establishment of neurological unit to replace beds in the voluntary hospital destroyed by enemy action.
*North-Western HospitalSt. Peter's Hospital for Genito-Urinary Diseases.Establishment of unit for genitourinary diseases, to replace beds in the voluntary hospital damaged by enemy action.
Lambeth HospitalSt. Thomas's HospitalMedical staff of St. Thomas's hospital assumed responsibility for the maternity unit at Lambeth Hospital. Two staff midwives from St. Thomas's Hospital are seconded to Lambeth Hospital for teaching purposes and a quarterly interchange of pupil mid-wives is made between the two-hospitals. Medical students are instructed in the unit.

* This association ceased in December, 1946.