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46
visitors is at present available to spread that pressure in order that
new work may be fully met.
The home nursing, like the health visiting service, is still much
below establishment. The intention of the Act is to make such a
service available to all who require it, so that the only qualifications
should be need and the family doctor's request. The Tottenham
District Nursing Association which has rendered such valuable
service to the residents of Tottenham in past years, continues to
provide, under the administration of the Area Health Committee, a
service of infinite scope with promise of expansion. As had been
foreseen, the removal of financial barriers to medical attention
resulted in an increased number of people being able to consult their
doctors, and to an increase in the number of known cases of sickness
requiring home nursing.
The domestic help service grew from beginnings in which a local
authority might arrange for families to have help with the housework
when the mother was having a baby. This is now extended to
provide such help when, for any medical reason, it is required.
The number of expert public-spirited women in this service has
considerably grown, some working full-time and others part-time.
The position of aged persons requiring hospital treatment was
eased by the setting up of a twenty-bed geriatric ward at the St.
Ann's General Hospital. Failure to arrange admission locally has
brought intense pressure to bear on the Emergency Bed Service—a
voluntary agency provided by King Edward's Hospital Fund,
whereby country-wide branches of the Bed Service are kept informed
of the vacant bed position of all hospitals in their area. On receipt
of a "failed admission" notification it is possible to assess from
exact knowledge the position of hospital beds in the region, and
select one having a vacant bed or place the case on the waiting list.
This information is then transmitted to the family doctor who has
requested assistance. It cannot' be held against the Bed Service
that immediate success has been limited by the very few beds available.
Although a high percentage of cases during the year have had
to be placed on waiting lists, there is at least the satisfaction of
knowing that each particular list had been prepared with the need
of the cases in mind, and with the intention of securing the earliest
possible admission.
Although the requirements of many aged persons can be met by
arranging for care to be provided within their own homes, or in