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30
Supervisory Visit
The Education Supervisor of the Central Midwives Board visited the
Borough on the 23rd of February, made a supervisory round with a
domiciliary midwife and found the standard of domiciliary midwifery
in the Borough to be completely satisfactory.
Obstetric Students
During the year, 32 obstetric students from Edgware hospital spent
a day on the district when they were escorted to the various clinics and
homes by the domiciliary midwives.
International Confederation of Midwives
The 1972 International Confederation of Midwives was held in
Washington D.C. and the non-Medical Supervisor of Midwives, attended
as an observer at her own expense.
Notification of Intention to Practice
Sixteen midwives notified their intention to practice within the
Borough and all were domiciliary. This notification of intent is required
by the Central Midwives Board.
Early Discharge from Hospital
The general pattern of midwifery continues to change and it is
steadily being realised that a hospital, with all the possible risk of infection
etc. is not an ideal place to keep a healthy mother, longer than absolutely
necessary, and consequently the tendency is for the mother to be discharged
from hospital as soon as possible after the delivery, to her own
home and into the care of the domiciliary midwife. During this year 1,084
such patients were discharged early from hospital.
HOME NURSING
The increasing number of General Practitioners group practices
attended by the Home Nurses has resulted in the establishment being
increased from 26 to 30 full time nurses. The extra staff were obtained by
advertising in the usual fashion without any undue difficulty.
Very good liaison has been maintained between the staff, the General
Practitioners and the Social Services, and many patients have been
referred by the district nurses for Home Help assistance and the use of
various walking aids and hoists. During the year a total of 2,138 new
patients were accepted and the total number of patients nursed increased
from 81,056 to 81,224 and of these, a total of 1,247 visits occupied the
nurse for a time in excess of one hour.