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24
find walking to the public transport or mounting bus
steps very difficult.
The visits paid by me were almost identical in
character to those paid last year. Approximately
half were to persons awaiting admission to, or recently
discharged from, the Geriatric Unit. This
Unit is a tremendous blessing. No longer do we have
cases referred to us by worried general practitione rs
who cannot obtain beds. There are times when there
is a waiting period of a week or two, but I think it is
correct to say that no urgent case had to wait during
1959- My once weekly visits to the Unit continued
throughout the year and I always look forward to them
with pleasure. As for the old persons themselves,
the majority of those admitted to the Unit thoroughly
enjoyed their stay, and I find them full of praise for
the medical and nursing staffs, and that sometimes
forgotten, but exceptionally cheerful and compassionate
section, the ambulance personnel. We do occasionally
have a few grousers but these are invariably
persons who by reason of their disabilities or their
temperaments would not be happy and comfortable in
any place. There are also those who, as the result
of senile changes, are mentally incapable of settling
down in Hospital or of understanding and appreciating
what is done for them. My experience is that such
persons become more confused when removed from
their own familiar surroundings and unless there is
some physical condition which necessitates Hospital
care, they are better in their own homes with the help
of domiciliary services. On the other hand, relatives
and friends very understandably seek, and indeed
require, a breakfrom them, but admission toHospital
could sometimes be avoided if all the members of
a family would pull their weight, and pool their resources.
I do not agree with a current idea that
families grow more inclined year by year to depend
upon the Welfare State and to leave their old people
to the care of the authorities, but I do find that there
is a tendency to take it for granted that one particular
member should take the entire responsibility, sometimes
the eldest is thought to be the one whose duty
is the greater; some men insist that they are exempt
because "nursing is a woman's job". It does not
seem to occur to them that the actual nursing is not