View report page

†Each bed is registered for a maternity, medical or surgical case.
* Numbers include beds for medical and surgical patients which cannot be used if a maternity patient is accommodated
in the same room.
Close supervision of the homes was maintained and visits of inspection were made
at regular intervals by medical officers (53 inspections) and public health inspectors
(93 inspections). The shortage of qualified nursing staff continued to present a variety
of problems and underlined the need for maintaining a close scrutiny of the staff
provided at all homes. Exemptions from the operation of part XI of the Public Health
(London) Act, 1936, granted during the year numbered 39.
Nursing
homes and
the National
Health
Service
The following report was prepared before his death on 19th May, 1955, by
Dr. E. B. Argles, who for many years had been responsible for the inspection of nursing
homes in London :—
Figures given in the annual reports of the county medical officer show that the
second world war and the National Health Service Act caused great changes among
the nursing homes of London. At the end of 1937 170 nursing homes were registered
in the County. Evacuation, damage by enemy action, shortage of staff, and other
difficulties reduced the number of active homes to 108 in 1945, and the homes which
survived the war had great difficulty in maintaining their standards. The replacement
of equipment (particularly linen), rationing, and the shortage of skilled staff had to be
surmounted during the difficult war years, and most nursing homes were then faced
with heavy expenditure on repairs and redecoration in the immediate post-war years.
This alone was often enough to discourage the owners of the smaller type of home
from continuing. In addition the pre-war nurse's salary of £60 to £90 a year, all found,
had by 1953 become ,£350 plus a living-out allowance. It was not surprising, therefore,
that between 1947 and 1953 there was a further drop in the number of nursing homes
from 63 to 48. This drop of 24 per cent, in the number of homes in London since the
National Health Service began, when measured in number of beds available, shows a
decrease of 9.4 per cent. During this same period 19 new homes were registered, but
34 were closed.
Rising costs have alarmed the users as well as the owners of nursing homes. Accommodation
which before the war cost 5 to 8 guineas a week, with a maximum of about
12 guineas, to-day costs from 11 to 25 guineas a week—not a disproportionate increase
when compared with rises in costs. Fees of this magnitude which may be borne for a
short period by the acutely ill are an impossible burden on patients of advanced age
with small fixed incomes ; in many cases the expense is met for a time out of capital
or by relatives or friends. This is one of the main reasons why the number of empty
beds has increased in nursing homes. There are still some small homes with from
6 to 10 beds charging about 6 guineas upwards, but at such a figure and with presentday
prices no more than the bare minimum of nursing staff can be provided, and the
52