London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1957
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
This page requires JavaScript
HOME NURSING SERVICE
The home nursing service was provided, as hitherto, by 26 voluntary district nursing
associations acting as agents for the Council, liaison being maintained through the
Central Council for District Nursing in London. These associations (with one exception
where a block grant is paid) were grant-aided to the extent of 93 per cent. of net
approved expenditure.
At the beginning of 1957 a simplified system of record keeping was introduced,
which, instead of analysing in great detail the data about completed treatments, provided
the following data on visits by type of case, age of patient and location, and in
addition, number of long-term cases and number of nursing treatments commenced
and completed.
Details are set out in the following tables—it is not possible, except in tables (i) and (ii),
to give comparative figures for previous years.
Table (i)—Staff
| 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of nurses employed at end of year | 572 | 584 | 614 |
| Full time equivalent of nurses employed | 512 | 538 | 567 |
| Number of trained district nurses | 321 | 327 | 389 |
| Number of state enrolled assistant nurses | 36 | 35 | 30 |
| Number of male nurses | 49 | 38 | 40 |
Table (ii)—Types of case nursed and visits paid
| Type of case | Number of patients nursed | Percentage of total | Average number of visits to each patient | Total visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medical | 56,091 | 83.5 | 29 | 1,647,319 |
| Surgical | 6,126 | 9.1 | 34 | 210,477 |
| Infectious diseases | 276 | 0.4 | 7 | 1,807 |
| Tuberculous | 1,742 | 2.6 | 47 | 82,620 |
| Maternal complications | 714 | 1.1 | 8 | 5,441 |
| Others | 2,220 | 3.3 | 20 | 43,957 |
| TOTALS | 67,169 | 100.0 | 30 | 1,991,621 |
The figures for 1956 and 1955 were 1,962,733 and 1,953,182 respectively.
Table (iii)—Visits for general treatment and for injections
| Visit for | At patients' homes | Elsewhere (e.g., Nurses' Homes) | Percentage of total visits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Injections only | 968,506 | 33,575 | 50 |
| Injections plus other treatment | 108,715 | 245 | 6 |
| Other treatment only | 880,504 | 76 | 44 |
| TOTAL VISITS | 1,957,725 | 33,896 | 100 |
Table (iv)—Long term cases (i.e., those visited more than 24 times during the year)
| Number | Percentage of total patients nursed |
|---|---|
| 14,598 | 21.7 |