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occupied by a full-time midwife. We are equally grateful to the
Urban District Council of Friern Barnet, where similar provision
has been made.
In addition to the nine midwives mentioned above, we usually
have two pupil midwives undergoing part of their training in the
Area. These are normally resident at " Osidge," where there is a
resident approved midwife teacher responsible for their training.
All our domiciliary midwives are subject to the supervision
of the Senior Assistant Medical Officer and the non-medical Supervisor
of Midwives. Our midwives are all qualified to administer
gas and air analgaesia. All have the use of portable apparatus
for the administration of gas and air. In just over three out of
four cases attended by our midwives, gas and air analgesia was
given by a midwife ; in approximately three out of five cases
pethidine was administered, again by a midwife.
The availability of transport for our midwives has been
adequate, due in large measure to the excellent fleet of cars handed
over to the County Council in 1948 by the Southgate Queens
Nursing Association. Communication by telephone is provided in
the homes of all those midwives who are not resident at " Osidge."
9. HOME NURSING SERVICE
In addition to the Superintendent of Home Nurses, who is
also Non-medical Supervisor of Midwives, and the Superintendent
at " Osidge," 21 whole-time and six part-time Home Nurses were
employed at the end of 1953. Owing to the sharp rise in the
demands on this service the approved establishment for the Area
was increased during the year from 24 to 26.
During the year, our nurses paid a total of 77,335 visits to
3,140 cases. These cases were divided as follows:
Medical 2,612
Surgical 301
Infectious diseases 45
Tuberculosis 112
Maternal complications 45
Others 25
The local arrangements for operating the Home Nursing
Service vary from district to district. In Potters Bar, the Urban
District Council has provided a Council house, from which one fulltime
and one part-time nurse operate. In Southgate, " Osidge "
is the administrative centre for the service, although not all the
home nurses are resident there. In Wood Green, a central office is
provided in a room in the branch Area Health Office. In Friern
Barnet, a small headquarters is housed in an ad hoc building in
Wetherill Road.
These arrangements are not entirely satisfactory. The room
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