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46
had agreed as far as was practicable to undertake the nursing of these
discharged patients. The general situation eased so that the services
of the Council's midwives were not required in many cases.
By the end of the year all but one of the Council's midwives had
obtained their certificates of competence to administer gas and air and
algesia. In spite of the availability of this service and despite, too, the
fact that it would be provided without any additional cost there was no
real increase during the year in the number of requests. 326 patients
availed themselves; in 290 the administration was a pronounced success ;
in 28 only a partial success, while in 8 instances it was a failure.
Home Helps: The arrangements for the provision of home helps in
maternity cases continued as on previous lines, the standard charge for the
14 day's attendance being £7 7s. Od. Increased use has been made of the
engagement for any particular mother of a help selected by her who
does not come on the panel of helps. Altogether 117 cases were attended
by helps under the Council's arrangements. During the financial year
122 cases were attended by 22 helps. Of these 3 attended only one
confinement, 4 two, 1 attended at three, 3 at four, 4 at five, 6 at six,
two at seven. One attended 12, another 14, and one attended 20.
The domestic help service which was authorised in 1944 by regulations
under which helps could be provided in households where the need arose
primarily because of illness, was extended during the year following the
taking up of her duties early in the year of the full time organiser of the
service.
The following is a copy of the report presented to the Committee
on the first year's working of the service after the appointment of the
organiser:
The Ministry's approval was first given for the engagement
of domestic helps in households where assistance was
needed because the housewife herself was ill, where she was
suddenly taken away with no one to look after the children,
and where several members of the family were ill at the
same time. Few home helps offered their services when the
scheme was first started, nor did many more when the remuneration
was raised. In November, 1946, the Council appointed Mrs. Clarke as
organiser of the service. She took up her duties early last year. Apart
from the failure to obtain sufficient helps the chief difficulty all the way
through has been balancing supply and demand. If a woman was
persuaded to act as a home help it was necessary to be able to offer her
employment straight away, otherwise her help would be lost. On the
other hand the demand is quite spasmodic. Apart from what might
be expected as a seasonal incidence, heavy in the winter months and
light in the summer, irregular fluctuations in demand occur. It was
felt that the greatest help that could be given by limited numbers of
helpers was part-time service in a number of houses on one to six days
of the week to a large number of householders rather than something
nearer whole-time service at a small number of houses. For this reason,
too, assistance was limited to short periods, up to four or so weeks.