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40
Hospital Liaison
Good communication has continued between the local hospitals
and the community nursing teams.
During the year all the health visitors had the opportunity
of spending one day at Kingston Hospital. The morning was spent in
the children's ward and the afternoon in the paediatric out-patients
department. In exchange, the senior staff of the children's ward and
out-patients department spent a day with the health visitor observing
her work. This enabled the staff to be more aware of each other's role
and because they now knew each other, communication regarding the care
of the young child improved. A senior health visitor continues to spend
one morning a week at Kingston Hospital. She exchanges information with
the sisters of the maternity and children's wards as well as the senior
medical social worker and welfare officer. She also visits the mothers
in the maternity wards should they have any problems. This information
is then passed on to the appropriate health visitor in the field.
This liaison has been most valuable, and mothers, babies and
children have benefited because of the health visitor's prompt home
visits where there have been signs of stress. One health visitor
participates in the mothercraft classes held at Kingston Hospital and
expectant parents who attend the local authority health clinics are
invited for an evening to Kingston Hospital to see films on the birth
of a baby and have the opportunity to visit the maternity unit.
A geriatric health visitor is attached to Tolworth and Barnes
Hospitals and assists in assessing the admission of the elderly either as
in-patients or to the day rehabilitation unit; she also visits these
patients after their discharge to satisfy herself that they are able to
manage in their home surroundings. The same health visitor liaises with
the group attached health visitor and keeps her informed about admissions,
progress and discharge of her patients. One tuberculosis health visitor
is attached to the chest unit at Kingston Hospital. She supervises the
progress of all patients in the borough who attend the chest clinic.
Nursing Education
The Superintendent Health Visitor has continued to lecture to
the first, second and third year nurses at Kingston Hospital and all student
nurses have had the opportunity of observing community nursing by spending
one day with a health visitor and one day with a district nurse.
The Superintendent Health Visitor and the Superintendent of
District Nurses have had discussions with the tutors at Kingston Hospital