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9
2. Services Rendered by Hospital Boards.
There are two main hospitals situated in Orpington—Farnborough
Hospital, with 828 beds, and Orpington Hospital, with
1,063 beds.
3. Services Rendered by the County Council.
The following services are provided by the County Council,
and supervised through the Area No. 7 Sub-Committee, upon
which Orpington has three Council representatives. I am unable
to give details of these services rendered to the Orpington
inhabitants, as all statistics are centralised at Maidstone, and
Orpington records are incorporated in the figures for Area 7 as
a whole.
Health Visiting.
There are nine Health Visitors employed by the Kent
County Council and carrying out their duties in the Orpington
district. Their function is to give advice on the care of young
children and to expectant and nursing mothers, and also to
undertake duties in connection with the School Health Services,
immunisation, vaccination and other ancillary services. Their
local headquarters is situated at Downe House, High Street,
Orpington.
Midwifery (Domiciliary).
There are three Midwives engaged in wholly domiciliary
midwifery, and three others who are combined Midwives and
Home Nurses. Their services are engaged direct by the patient,
or through the patient's private doctor. They act either as midwives
or maternity nurses.
Home Nursing Service.
This service, which under the National Health Act became
free on the 5th July, 1948, provides trained nurses for patients
who require nursing in their own homes. A night service is not
at present available, and the service is provided on medical
certification only. There are five Home Nurses in the Orpington
area, plus three who combine Home Nursing with Domiciliary
Midwifery.