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IV.—CAUSES OF SICKNESS.
The insufficiency of present methods for preventing infectious
disease, in particular non-notifiable diseases in infancy and childhood,
naturally results in enfeebled constitutions unable at any time to combat
any additional stress. The high number of deaths from cancer,
heart diseases, bronchitis, and the pneumonias is evidence of this. The
housing accommodation is inadequate, and much misery and ill-health
exists as a result of this fact.
V— SUMMARY OF NURSING ARRANGEMENTS.
HOSPITALS AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS AVAILABLE
FOR THE DISTRICT.
Professional Nursing in the Home—
(a) General.—This is carried out in the Borough by the King's
Home for Nurses, who employ a staff, including the Superintendent,
of 19 trained nurses who attend at the houses of the sick, at such times
as are necessary, to carry out skilled nursing.
(b) For Infectious Diseases.—Arrangements made between the
King's Home and the Borough Council for nursing selected cases of
infectious disease, the agreed working being as follows: —
1. Nursing assistance is granted under the Maternity and Child
Welfare scheme in cases of ophthalmia neonatorum, puerperal fever,
measles and German measles, whooping cough, epidemic diarrhoea
and polio-myelitis.
One half of the money expended under this head is returned by
the Ministry of Health.
Except as regards ophthalmia neonatorum and puerperal fever,
no attempt is made to grant routine nursing assistance to any but
emergency cases; by emergency I mean that only where representation
is made by a member of my staff or by medical practitioners that
nursing is an urgent necessity is this assistance granted; the scheme
does not permit the granting of routine nursing assistance.
Of these diseases ophthalmia neonatorum, puerperal fever and
polio-myelitis only are notifiable in this Borough.
2. Nursing assistance is granted under the various regulations,
etc., to cases of tuberculosis, pneumonia, dysentery, etc., and here
again nursing assistance is only granted to those most urgently
requiring this assistance.
3. The agreed amount to be paid to the nursing association is
1s. 3d. per visit.