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tioner nurses, and a graduated maintenance grant may be made
in certain cases. At the appropriate age, the student will
commence her work at one of the hospitals owned by the Council.
(b) The scale of salaries has been revised in certain Council
hospitals, and the London County Council scale of salaries has been
adopted.
(c) This matter has been fully dealt with by the Council, and
most of the nursing staff work a forty-eight hour week. Although
it is not always possible to apportion the work within rigid limits,
considerable progress has been made in this direction.
(d) The appointment of ward orderlies and assistant nurses
in various hospitals tends to relieve the trained nurse of certain
unskilled domestic work.
Assistant nurses. A considerable number of assistant
nurses are engaged in the Council's institutions, more especially at
the Central Home and Forest Gate Hospital, at which institutions,
owing to the type of patients, only a small number of fully trained
nursing staff is essential. They work under the supervision of the
trained staff.
Ward orderlies. During the year it was found necessary to
appoint non-resident ward orderlies at Plaistow Hospital and
Dagenham Sanatorium. At Plaistow Hospital, owing to the
institution of a forty-eight hour working week for the nursing
staff, six ward orderlies had to be appointed. At Dagenham
Sanatorium six were appointed owing to the shortage of nursing
staff. The salary of an orderly is £2 3s. 4d. per week, less 10s.
per week in respect of meals supplied.
WHIPPS CROSS HOSPITAL.
Buildings and staff.
This hospital is situated at Whipps Cross in the Borough of
Leyton, and is contained within an area of approximately 46 acres.
The buildings are comparatively modern, having been built in
1903. The main building consists of a central administrative
block and four three-storey blocks, each with two wings leading
from a main corridor. These blocks contain 24 wards for the
accommodation of acute medical and surgical cases, two observation
wards for mental cases, and a well-equipped operating theatre.
The hospital was built to accommodate 744 patients, but it is
rarely that the number of patients falls below 800, and there are
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