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 1959
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
This page requires JavaScript
HOME NURSING
Details of the work done by the 26 voluntary grant-aided district nursing associations
who acted as agents for the Council are given below:
Table (i)—Staff (numbers employed at 31 December)*
| 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State registered nurses | 490 | 491 | 533 | 506 | 512 |
| State enrolled assistant nurses | 36 | 42 | 30 | 33 | 34 |
| Total number of nurses employed | 526 | 533 | 563 | 539 | 546 |
| Male nurses (included above) | 41 | 38 | 41 | 41 | 39 |
| Full time equivalent of nurses employed | 478 | 487 | 522 | 496 | 507 |
| Students | 68 | 75 | 52 | 65 | 78 |
| Male students (included above) | 6 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
*Exclusive of administrative and supervisory staff.
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 | 47,464 | 82.7 | 30 | 1,427,302 |
| Surgical | 5,928 | 10.4 | 37 | 218,895 |
| Infectious diseases | 214 | 0.4 | 8 | 1,766 |
| Tuberculous | 1,269 | 2.2 | 55 | 69,309 |
| Maternal complications | 982 | 1.7 | 8 | 7,461 |
| Others | 1,511 | 2.6 | 26 | 38,563 |
| 57,368 | 100.0 | 31 | 1,763,296 |
The total visits for 1958 and 1957 were 1,893,553 and 1,991,621 respectively.
Table (iii)—Types of treatment and location
| Visits for | At patient's home | Elsewhere (e.g.. Nurses' Homes) | Percentage of total visits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Injections only | 718,335 | 36,542 | 42 |
| Injections plus other treatment | 102,037 | 487 | 6 |
| Other treatment only | 904,752 | 1,143 | 52 |
| 1,725,124 | 38,172 | 100 |
During 1959 the proportion of visits for 'Other treatment only' rose by 5 per cent.
compared with 1958, whilst visits for 'Injections only' fell by the same amount. The latter
was due largely to the increasing use of oral treatment for diabetes, to more selective
use of antibiotics and to a decrease in the number of tuberculous cases requiring
streptomycin.
Table (iv)—Long term cases (i.e. those visited more than 24 times during year)
| Number | Percentage of total patients nursed |
|---|---|
| 11,225 | 19.6 |
The percentage of long term cases increased from 18.9 in 1958.
65