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(iii) Admission has now been extended to include children
who are physically handicapped. particularly those
who are deaf or partially deaf. maladjusted, or
partially sighted. Similarly, children whose parents
are deaf or dumb and who would therefore lack the
normal talking environment in the home. are admitted.
In all these instances there is no charge to the
parents.
The nurseries are open from 7.30 a.m. to 6,0 p.m. A
charge is made for this Service on a sliding scale based
on the parents' income.
All applications for admission to a Day Nursery should
be made to the Area Medical Officer, Town Hall Annexe,
Ealing, W. 5.
HONE NURSING SERVICE
There are 23 full-time Home Nurses and 8 part-time Home
Nurses in Ealing, including two male nurses. During the
year a total of 67,241 visits was made to 1,799 patients.
The object of the service is to enable those patients
whose illness does not require hospital admission to be
nursed at home. The duties carried out comprise general
nursing, blanket bathing, giving of enemata and injections
of antibiotics, etc. Hydraulic hoists are available for
lifting of patients and orthopaedic walking aids are
supplied. An increasing proportion of the work is concerned
with old people. The number of patients nursed and visits
made has continued to fall each year since 1947. but this
fact must be viewed in the light of the changing character
of the work involved. The introduction of drugs which in
the past have been given by injection and which now can
be administered orally means that treatment frequently
does not require a visit by a nurse. However, several
factors have operated to increase the amount of time spent
on each patient. The foremost of these is the increasing
number of old people requiring treatment. Last year 57%
of patients were over 65 years of age and this, together
with the increasing number suffering from cardio-vascular
disabilities has resulted in the need for lengthier visits.
A further time consuming, although rewarding task, is the
rehabilitation of disabled patients, a task which has
increasingly fallen to home nurses.
The services of a home nurse are available at the
request of the patient's medical practitioner or hospital
medical officer. Application should be made to the Area
Medical Officer, Town Hall Annexe, Ealing, W.5.