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I "The Plaistow Maternity Charity should be approached with
a view to such arrangements being made as will reduce
the pressure at ante-natal clinics, and to securing if possible
better premises in place of those now in use at Martin
Street."
I have conferred with the Secretary, the Matron, and the
Medical Officer of Plaistow Maternity Hospital regarding the
above matter. This Authority has agreed:—
(a) to so arrange the attendances at the ante-natal clinics
and to establish extra sessions as to eliminate or reduce
the overcrowding complained of;
(b) to give up the clinic at Martin Street: the small number
of clinic cases dealt with there could adequately be dealt
with at other existing clinics if proposal IV is put into
force: the Maternity cases could be attached to the
general district work conducted from the Howards Road
Home. Pending new premises, only bookings for
maternity work would be done at Martin Street.
II "The Council should consider the provision of a more
quate and up-to-date Maternity unit in connection with one
of their institutions, including a suitable number of beds
allocated and reserved for women suffering from illnesses
of pregnancy."
At present the Council has an arrangement for the reception
of maternity cases with Queen Mary's Hospital, Plaistow
Maternity Hospital, and the Public Assistance Committee. In
spite of the number of voluntary hospital beds available in the
Borough, the demand for hospital accommodation for confinement
continues to grow so that the beds at Forest Gate Hospital
are always full. This Hospital is reasonably accessible to all
areas; the buildings, however, are not up-to-date, there is no
X-Ray plant, no operating theatre, no adequate rooms for isolation
or for nurseries.
I suggest that the Council consider the establishment of a
complete maternity unit capable of dealing with all conditions of
pregnancy, confinement, and the puerperium, excluding cases of
abortion and puerperal sepsis. There should be a separate block
for dealing with diseases and abnormalities of pregnancy apart
from the usual waiting ward which is for healthy women approaching
their full-term. In this connection I do not deem it advisable
for the cost of hospital ante-natal treatment to be reclaimed from
the patient, as this factor would definitely preclude many women
from consenting to enter hospital for treatment for conditions
whose seriousness they do not understand and refuse to recognise.
The additional cost to the Council of allowing patients to enter
their hospital free for the treatment of abnormalities of pregnane)
would not be heavy, but the benefit that would accrue to the
mothers would be great.
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