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HOME HELP SERVICE
The Home Help Service provides domestic help in time of illness. All normal
household duties, including shopping, cooking, washing, cleaning, and looking after
children are undertaken. There is an equivalent of 149 full-time home helps in Ealing.
At the end of the year there were over 886 cases receiving help. The order of priority
is acute sick, maternity cases, tuberculosis and chronic sick and aged. Nevertheless,
over 75% of those helped were old people. Payment is based on the patient's
resources and ranges from no charge to 4s. 6d. per hour. The object of the service is
to supplement assistance available from relatives, etc., and to tide patients over in
emergency rather than supply permanent domestic help. During the year the night
service was continued. Attendance is from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. and the duties of the
helper consist of sitting with and giving general care to the patient. This has proved
most valuable.
Applications for the services of either a day or night home help should be made,
accompanied by a medical certificate, to the Area Medical Officer, Town Hall
Annexe, Ealing, W.5.
Family Help Scheme
This service was inaugurated in May 1959 to deal with three categories of cases.
(1) The family help takes the place of the mother in her absence, assumes
responsibility for the home, the children and the finances and resides at
the home.
(2) The family help takes the place of the mother in her absence, assumes
responsibility for the home, the children and the finances in the day time
only, but is non-resident. The father or other relative takes over at night.
(3) The family help is employed for some part of the day to assist and advise
the mother who, although resident with her family, requires to be taught
how to manage her household affairs and to budget sensibly.
The total number of cases dealt with during the year was 12 and these have been
made up as follows:—
In category (1) 2
In category (2) 8
In category (3) 1
A charge is made on a weekly basis according to the applicant's income and
expenditure.
Applications for the service should be made to the Children's Officer, 4 Newburgh
Road, Churchfield Road. Acton, W.3.
Good Neighbour Scheme
This service was inaugurated to help cases that required attention outside the
normal Home Help hours of duty. The Home Help who acts as a good neighbour
attends a patient without fixed times so that assistance is given when needed. The
Good Neighbour is paid according to the time involved up to a maximum of
£2 a week. The full charge to the patient being the same amount paid to the Good
Neighbour but this can be reduced if the patient is unable to meet this full amount.
At the moment we have 14 Good Neighbours. It will be appreciated that it is not
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