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12
It will be seen that in each of the last three years there has
been a decrease in the number of cases admitted. This reduction
in the number of admissions has not been due to lessened demand
for admission, but to steps that have had to be taken to reduce
the overcrowding ot the wards by curtailing the bookings. For
a part of the year under review the number of applications accepted
for admission to the 22 beds in the hospital was limited to 40 for
each calendar month, but so many pressing applications were
received that it was deemed advisable to revert to the former
number of 44 cases per month and to carry on the hospital at
times of pressure as well as possible.
The overwhelming demand for admission to the hospital
can be gathered when it is realised that the accommodation is
usually fully booked at least four months in advance. This means
that if a woman applies for admission during the last four months
of her pregnancy, no matter how desirable her admission to hospital
may be, her application can only be considered in very exceptional
circumstances.
The necessity for the extension of the Maternity Hospital
to meet this demand for admission has been emphasized in each
Annual Report from 1930 onwards. Following the adoption of
the Special Report in 1930, the Hospitals Committee decided to
take steps to extend the Maternity Hospital, but the national
financial crisis in 1931 caused the proposals to be held in abeyance.
Recently the demand for admission to the Maternity Hospital
increased to such an extent that, coupled with the urgent necessity
for the extension of the Isolation Hospital, further postponement
of the extensions became impossible.
When consideration of the extensions was revived it became
apparent that the interests of the community would be best served
by a comprehensive scheme of extension which would provide
for some years to come. A report was therefore submitted recommending
that the present Maternity Hospital, which prior to the
formation of the Hospitals Committee was the Chiswick Isolation
Hospital, should be amalgamated with the Isolation Hospital,
which it adjoins, and extended to make 140 beds available for
infectious cases, and that an entirely new Maternity Hospital of
42 beds should be provided. This recommendation was approved
by the Committee. (A copy of the report is appended).