View report page

HOME NURSING SERVICE
The reorganisation of the Home Nursing Service, following the Council's assumption of its
direct running from 1 October 1965, proceeded during 1966.
One recommendation of the departmental Working Party which had been set up to advise
on the new organisation was that in a non-resident home nursing service nurses' districts should
be grouped, each such group being staffed by 6-8 nurses, plus ancillary staff, under the control of
a group leader. As a first step towards implementing this recommendation 4 home nurses were appointed
groupleaders from 1 January 1966 and, graded as Senior District Nurses, they assumed responsibility
for the day-to-day administration of their groups, relief arrangements, etc.
Before 1 January, all messages, day or night, from general practitioners, hospital, etc.
were delivered or telephoned to the appropriate district nursing association Home. From that date,
messages during office hours were taken by the Chief Home Nursing Officer, or one of her Assistants,
at Bidborough House, and those after office hours or at week-ends diverted to the Night Service
Control at the Whittington Hospital. Any urgent messages are taken by the night duty nurse while
non-urgent messages are collected by the Senior District Nurses the following morning and distributed
by telephone to the appropriate nurses.
The establishment at 18-20 Montague Street, W.C.l, formerly the headquarters of the Metropolitan
District Nursing Association, was retained by the Council for use as a Nurses 'Home/Hostel.
This enables us to offer accommodation, which is always difficult to obtain in central London, to
home nurses on the staff, trainee home nurses, pupil midwives attached to domiciliary midwives
working in the south of the Borough, and newly appointed staff pending their finding their own
accommodation. It has been possible also to assist neighbouring hospitals and other organisations,
which require temporary accommodation for staff or for students attending courses at their establishments.
The appointment of a housekeeper at the Nurses' Hostel helped to develop the premises as
a pleasant, well-run and fully-occupied house. Rooms were decorated and additional furniture installed.
The establishment provides an office base for three groups of home nurses (with residential
accommodation where required) and a training centre for student district nurses. The basement lecture
room and the kitchens have been used for in-service training for home helps. The board and lodging
charges for nursing staff resident at the hostel are in accordance with the recommendations of the
Nurses and Midwives Whitley Council. In November 1966 the Council approved the charge of £6.12s. 6d
for bed, breakfast and evening meal to those residents who are not employed by the Council.
The time-honoured practice of sterilizing dressings, (wool, gauze, etc.) by packing tins
and baking them in ovens was replaced by the introduction of pre-sterilized commercially prepared
packs. Each pack contains a small disposable bowl and dressings sufficient for one application.
Disposable dissecting forceps were also introduced.
During the year home nurses treated 3,234 persons; 58 were under 5 years of age at the
time of the first visit and 1,586 were aged 65 years or over.
12 state registered nurses received home nursing training in Camden during the year, and
all were successful in obtaining the Certificate of the Queen's Institute. One of the students was
a male nurse who was subsequently appointed to the staff.
PILOT ATTACHMENT OF A HOME NURSE TO A GROUP OF GENERAL PRACTITIONERS
Meetings were held during 1966 and the principle and practice of such a pilot attachment
were discussed. It was agreed that the range of the Nurse's work would not vary from the type of
treatment normally within her province, that she would attend surgery each day for the purpose of
exchanging information about patients and, by appointment, to give some treatment, such as dressings
and injections. The nurse attached would be concerned exclusively with patients on the lists of
this group of practitioners.
Some difficulty was experienced in finding a suitable nurse who was interested in the project.
Because of the extra ground she would have to cover, mechanized transport was a necessity. By
the end of the year, arrangements were in hand for a state registered nurse then taking the district
nurse training course to be appointed to the post. This nurse used an auto-cycle and intended to
purchase a car at a later date.
31