[Report 1965] / Medical Officer of Health, Nottingham City.

  • Nottingham (England). City Council.
Date:
1965
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1965] / Medical Officer of Health, Nottingham City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    91/200 (page 91)
    91 HOME HELP SERVICE The work of the Home Help Service continued throughout the year with little change in pattern. Both the number remaining on the register from the previous year and the number of new applications fell slightly; 2,056 cases were brought forward from 1964 and 1,020 new applicants were accepted. The elderly formed the largest group of those receiving help. Many lived on their own and 76 of these were confined to bed. It was not uncommon for a helper to assist with feeding such a patient on her off-duty day when other help was unavailable. Those who were housebound but not confined to bed requested frequent visits from the helper, more to overcome their loneliness than to assist them in the home. Fifteen social cases were helped including four brought forward from the previous year. Two cases requiring guidance and assistance with the care of both the home and the children presented difficult problems; in spite of perseverance, patience and hard work, under very unpleasant conditions, court action became necessary, resulting in the children being taken into the care of the local authority. Only one new tuberculous case was assisted during the year, that of an elderly man suffering from infectious pulmonary disease who refused hospital admission. A male volunteer attended during the short period prior to the patient’s death. The eleven cases carried forward from the previous year were mostly noil-infectious. Maternity cases attended numbered 125, including seven mothers whose help began in 1964. Three of these were attended without charge. As a result of replacement of the home confinement grant by a maternity grant payable whether the