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to this service has continued
Training
Three home nurses completed district training
courses and two attended the praotical work
instructors course Four home nurses
participated in a study day the principal
nursing officer attended a management
appreciation course and the deputy principal
nursing officer attended a middle management
course The nursing auxiliaries were given
community care training at the commencement
of their appointment All staff enjoyed inservice
training with special reference to
general practitioners attachment schemes and
mental health (see health visiting training )
Home Help Service
The constant aim of the home help service
is to help as many old people as possible
to live in their own homes with the maximum
degree of independence
The heaviest demand continued to be
from the ever-increasing aged population
who comprised 79% of all households
assisted compared with 78% in 1968
Assistance was also given to maternity
cases women suffering from toxaemia of
pregnancy and problem families Evening
and night help was given when necessary
Recruitment is still proving difficult and
despite an increase in wages this year it
is still difficult to find the right type of
person for this work
The two residential home helps have
assisted in several households to care for
young children taking the place of the
mother where there is no responsible adult
in the home during the night The availability
of the residential home helps has
been a great success as it has been possible
to prevent the break-up of a united family
by preventing the children being received
into care
In January a home help washing service
was implemented Incontinent laundrv is
now collected from households twice and
three times weekly as against a once weekly
service previously This service has saved
many hours of the home helps working time
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in the homes thus enabling them to undertake
a larger case load
The service as a whole was augmented bv
the employment of 12 neighbourly helps who
were employed part time on home help duties
close to their own homes
On 31st December the equivalent of 147
whole-time staff were employed compared with
139 at the same time last year
The type of case to which service was given
is as follows.
1969 1968
Aged (65 years and over) 1 597 1 617
Chronic sick and tuberculous 153 148
Maternity 93 134
Mentally disordered 13 11
Others 158 156
Total 2 014 2 066
Prevention of illness - care and after-care
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis prevention, care and after-care
services for patients living at home are provided
at the Hounslow and Ashford Chest Clinics
During 1969 there were 59 formal notifications
of pulmonary tuberculosis and 24 of non
pulmonary tuberculosis compared with 66 and 22
notifications respectively in 1969
The total number of cases on the register at
the end of the year was 1 839 (pulmonary
males 882 females 684 non pulmonary males
120 females 177)
Table 13 shows an analysis of all cases
notified during 1969
There were 3 deaths from tuberculosis in 1969
Loan of Nursing Equipment
The British Red Cross Society continues to
operate a scheme for the loan of nursing equipment
on behalf of the council Charges for this service
are nominal but in certain circumstances are
abated or waived Monies received from loan
charges enabled the British Red Cross Society
to provide replacements for smaller items of worn
equipment