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Training
Five students qualified as health visitors. A two day course
in Learning and Teaching Techniques for Minimisation of
Stress in Pregnancy Labour and the Initiation to Parenthood
was conducted by Mrs. Eileen Montgomery and was
attended by community nursing staff and midwives from
Ashford Hospital. Two health visitors gained the Further
Education Teaching Certificate.
Group Advisers
The three group advisers have had a very busy year and have
contributed a great deal both to the administrative staff and
field workers.
Mothers Clubs
These continue to be very active. One interesting
development has been a club run in association with the
Probation and After Care Service in the Hanworth area.
Home Nursing
Home nursing has as its aim the patient's physical,
psychological and social well-being so that restoration to
health or adjustment to limitations or in the care of
terminal illness giving comfort and reassurance may be
achieved to the highest degree.
During 1971 home nurses continued to work in group
attachment schemes and this pattern of work is proving
very successful.
The number of patients attended in their own homes and
the number of visits made to them has shown a slight
decrease but this must be viewed against the 22,380
treatments which were undertaken by nurses to approximately
4,831 patients whilst assisting general practitioners
in health centres and surgeries. Before the doctor
attachment schemes were adopted most of these patients
would have been visited in their own homes; this largely
accounts for the decrease in the number of home visits.
Work carried out in surgeries and health centres by nurses
included immunisations, injections, dressings, urinalysis,
diagnostic tests, haematology, minor opthalmic treatment
and ear syringing, cervical smears, and also assisting doctors
with minor operations.
Marie Curie Nursing Service
This service depends on retaining a register of nurses who
are willing to be called upon at short notice to attend
patients suffering from cancer and who are requiring night
or day nursing at home. It has not been possible to
maintain a register of such nurses because of the 'casual'
nature of the employment, consequently staff from the
local nursing agency have been engaged in order to provide
adequate care for such patients.
patients living at home are provided at the Hounslow and
Ashford Chest Clinics.
During 1971 there were 60 formal notifications of
pulmonary tuberculosis and 25 of non-pulmonary
tuberculosis, compared with 71 and 21 notifications
respectively in 1970.
The total number of cases on the register at the end of
the year was 1767 (pulmonary - males 809, females 654,
non-pulmonary - males 123, females 181).
Table 13 shows an analysis of all cases notified during
1971.
There were 5 deaths from tuberculosis in 1971.
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.
Chiropody Service
The chiropody service is available for the elderly, physically
handicapped and children. This is provided at fully
equipped council clinics and health centres and in the
patients' own homes. The service is augmented by the
Heston and Isleworth Old People's Welfare Committee who,
acting as agents on behalf of the borough council, conduct
their own clinics and domiciliary treatment.
The demands on the council's directly-provided service
continued to increase during 1971. An average of thirty
weekly sessions were held throughout the year in local
authority premises, compared with twenty-six during 1970.
A total of 1,537 clinic sessions were held at which 2,780
patients made 10,947 attendances for treatment. Seven
chiropodists made 7,958 home visits to aged and infirm
patients who were unable to attend the clinics. The
number of patients requiring domiciliary treatment
increased from 1,236 to 1,249.
The Heston and Isleworth Old People's Welfare
Committee works in close co-operation with the department
of health and provides an invaluable service as an adjunct to
the local authority's directly-provided service. During the
year 101 domiciliary patients received a total of 570 visits
and 192 patients made 916 attendances at specially arranged
sessions. The council paid the organisation an agreed
quarterly grant of £475 which was based on the existing
case load.
Prevention of illness - care and after-care
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis prevention, care and after-care services for
25