[Report 1945] / Medical Officer of Health, Worcestershire / County of Worcester County Council.

  • Worcestershire (England). County Council.
Date:
1945
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1945] / Medical Officer of Health, Worcestershire / County of Worcester County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    13/44 (page 9)
    Midwives Acts. During 1945, 229 Midwives gave notice of intention to practise in the County ; this number excludes Oldbury, as the Borough Council is the Local Supervising Authority for that area. The four domiciliary Midwives in the Borough of Stourbridge, (Nurse Hill, Nurse Adams, Nurse Nightingale and Nurse Dunn) who are employed whole-time as officers of the County Council, attended 309 cases in 1945. In the rural parts of the County the midwifery is undertaken by District Nurse Midwives employed by District Nursing Associations, to which grants are made by the County Council. Difficulty has again been experienced in providing and maintaining staff. The separation of the City and County Nursing Association into two separate organisations became effective in 1945. The new County Nursing Association had an active year, the newly appointed Committee arranging for convenient groupings of associations in order that each group might have representation on the Executive Committee. The difficult task of trying to re-arrange district nursing associations boundaries was commenced : some associations have not enough work to justify a nurse, whilst a neighbouring association's nurse may be overworked. Agatha, Lady Hindlip, who was Chairman of the joint Association, has retained her interest in the County Nursing Association, and is Chairman of the Executive Committee. Much time and effort has been spent in trying to improve the accommodation for nurses ; their salaries have all been revised in accordance with the Rushcliffe Scale ; but the real difficulty is the supply of suitable nurses. An appointment with a good house does not present much difficulty, but if a house is not available, or for general relief work, it has been almost impossible to obtain suitable applicants. The Isobel Morcom Medal and Prize given annually to a District Nurse whose record of service is considered by the adjudicators to be outstanding was awarded in 1945 to Miss Adeline Brown of the Headless Cross Nursing Association. Nursing Homes. One new Home was registered in 1945, making the number of registered homes in the County 27. Abnormal Maternity Cases. Consultations have been provided, or admission to a Maternity Hospital arranged, in all abnormal maternity cases notified to the County Council.