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39
The Welfare Committee investigating the programme for additional
hostels asked that domiciliary services should be strengthened
and for more co-ordination between visitors to the elderly.
Where a home help is regularly attending, the duty of observation
is obviously fulfilled.
Family Help Service
This extension of the Home Help Service inaugurated in 1955
to care for children in their own homes in the absence of the
mother for a longer period than is covered by an ordinary fulltime
help has not been used as widely as was at first anticipated.
Experience has shown that with the suggestions and planning of
the Supervisor, many families are able to make private arrangements
for the care of their children after 5 p.m. and need rely
on the local authority for the early morning and day-time period
which can be covered by the ordinary service.
Two families were attended under this scheme in 1956; one
for a period of seven weeks after the mother had deserted a family
with five children, ages 9 to 2 years, to enable the father to
find a suitable housekeeper.
A second family of five children was attended for one week
whilst the mother was in hospital.
In both cases, an average of 55 hours a week was given.
Sick Room Attendance Scheme
The demand during the year was not heavy. Eight patients were
attended for a total of thirteen nights. Pour died whilst the
home help was in attendance, three were admitted to hospital and
one recovered.
Laundry Service
This began in October for an experimental period of one year.
Two rooms have been provided at the Disinfecting Station and
equipped with sinks, a domestic washing machine, a spin dryer
and a drying cabinet. A home help gives at present 20 hours a
week, during which she deals with some 300 articles representing
the washing of 25 elderly persons who are being attended by home
helps. Collection and delivery are included in appropriate journeys
of disinfecting vans and soiled linen is disinfected before
washing, a fixed weekly charge of 2/6d. is added to the home
help costs for this service. I anticipate reporting at the end
of the experimental period that the scheme is working successfully.