Reports on hospitals and the patient and a domestic workers' charter
1931 1931 1930s 22 pages to the lack of beds. The average for a patient in hospital is twenty-one days. Yet the average in some of the large hospitals is twelve days, the pressure on the beds having hurried the patients out too soon. Children should be kept in the wards for at least two days after s...
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| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
| Language: | English English |
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London : Labour Party
1931
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/9332C8CE-851C-4552-AE00-4640C1FD8512 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/D555FBDE-FE8C-4670-98F9-9FAE41376CB0 |
| Summary: | 1931
1931
1930s
22 pages
to the lack of beds. The average for a patient in hospital is twenty-one days. Yet the average in some of the large hospitals is twelve days, the pressure on the beds having hurried the patients out too soon. Children should be kept in the wards for at least two days after such minor operations as the removal of adenoids and tonsils, but owing to the shortage of beds they are often put on mattresses in rows on the floor, for a short time, to recover before being sent home, and this regardless of the danger of bleeding coming on later. Further, as each hospital acts as a separate unit, we find that some are overcrowded, whilst their neighbours have beds to spare. One hospital over a period of years had more than 100 per cent. of its beds occupied, and in 1928 the average was as high as 105.75 per cent. On the other side, we find that the small hospitals have an average of 62 per cent. This indicates a waste of nursing staff when it is so badly needed. In cases where a hospital shows an average above 90 per cent., emergency beds are being used in the wards. C. Shortage of Nurses. Closely connected with the problem of overcrowding is that of the shortage of nurses. More beds and smaller wards would mean the necessity for more nurses. The demand for nurses is greater than the supply. The London County Council alone spends over £2,000 per annum in advertising for nurses and has a special recruiting officer at a salary of £500 a year. Yet London is always an attractive centre for this as well as other kinds of employment. It is estimated that many more nurses are needed to form an adequate nursing service. Sometimes matrons of large hospitals, when asked the proportion of nurses to patients, give figures which look as though the supply is sufficient. Their ratio may vary from one nurse to 2.5 patients to one for 6, but it is usual to count every nurse on the staff, including those in the out-patient department and all the special departments, such as X-ray, light, etc. If the actual numbers in the wards were taken the number of patients per nurse would be very much higher. But overworked nurses cannot give the patients all the attention and kindness that they need. (5)
126/TG/RES/X/1036A/7 |
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