[Report 1921] / Medical Officer of Health, Darlington County Borough.

  • Darlington (England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1921
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1921] / Medical Officer of Health, Darlington County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    11/60 (page 11)
    5.—SUMMARY OF NUBSING ARRANGEMENTS, HOSPITALS, AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS AVAILABLE FOR THE DISTRICT. There are three private Nursing Homes in Darlington. Home nursing is provided by the Queen’s Nurses’ Association, who are supported by voluntary subscriptions and by contributions for work done for them from the County and Borough Councils and Friendly Societies. In 1919 an agreement was entered into between the Borough Council and the Queen’s Nurses for the home nursing of expectant mothers, and maternity cases, for cases of puerperal fever, measles, whooping cough, epidemic diarrhoea, and ophthalmia neonatorum, at a fee of one shilling per visit with a minimum of £25 per 'annum. In September, 1920, the Council also agreed in connexion with their joint scheme with the Durham County Council for the treatment of tuberculosis, to pay to the Queen’s Nurses the sum of tenpence per visit for home nursing of tuberculosis cases at the request of the tuberculosis medical officer. The Queen’s Nurses also undertake midwifery cases, but not at the expense of the Local Authority. General Hospital in-patient treatment is provided by the Guardians at their In- firmary at the ‘ Feethams Institution,’ in Yarm Road, where there are 174 beds, including a ward of 10 beds arid 3 shelters for tuber- culosis, and at the General Hospital. The General Hospital pro- vides 107 beds for medical and surgical cases of all kinds; a ward has recently been added for the treatment of adenoids and ton- sils. The accommodation provided at the General Hospital is not sufficient for the town and neighbourhood, and as adequate exten- sion is impossible on the present site, a new site of 17 acres has been obtained. This extension is urgently needed. The number of midwives practising in Darlington during 1921 was 13, of whom 8 are trained. These midwives are inspected by Dr. Constance Robertson, who made 154 visits for this purpose; of these 125 were routine visits, 12 were on account of cases of ophthalmia neonatorum, 5 for the death of the child, 1 for the