[Report 1954] / Medical Officer of Health, Cheltenham Borough.

  • Cheltenham (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1954
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1954] / Medical Officer of Health, Cheltenham Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    26/70 (page 24)
    REGISTRATION AND INSPECTION OF NURSING HOMES. SECTIONS 187-194. PUBLIC HEALTH ACT 1936. At the commencement of 1954 there were 13 Nursing Homes on the Register. One Nursing Home closed during the year. The total number of beds available at the end of the year was 102 classified as follows :— Number of Homes Number of Beds provided for Maternity Others Totals Homes First Registered during the year. — — — — Homes on the Register at the end of the year. 12 9 93 102 Private Nursing Homes in Cheltenham still provide a most valuable addition to the accommodation available for sick persons. Many of the homes provide mainly for old persons and help in no small way to solve a problem which yearly becomes more difficult. Visits were paid to all Nursing Homes on two or more occasions during the year. REMOVAL TO SUITABLE PREMISES OF PERSONS IN NEED OF CARE AND ATTENTION. (National Assistance Act 1948 Sec. 47 and Amendment October, 1951). Although the circumstances of a number of persons were investigated during the year it was not found necessary to make use of the emergency measures provided in the Amendment Act of 1951. In most cases it was found that the persons concerned were prepared to enter hospital voluntarily and the problems of others were overcome by the provision of Home Help and nursing services. The problem of finding accommodation for old people who are living alone and unable to look after themselves is a big one in Cheltenham. Many enquiries are made to the Medical Officer of Health in the hope that a bed will be found. There is always a waiting list and it is no easy task to decide which case should be treated as a priority. However, once that decision is made, I have had the fullest co-operation from the hospital Authorities who are doing their utmost to solve an ever increasing, and what at times must appear to be, an almost insoluble problem. For our part we do our best to keep old people in their own homes by the provision of all the help which the Local Authority can offer. The provision of hospital or other residential accommodation should be a ast resort and is seldom the choice of the old person concerned.