Annual report for the year 1917 : (20th year of issue) / Metropolitan Asylums Board.

  • Metropolitan Asylums Board (London, England)
Date:
1918
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Annual report for the year 1917 : (20th year of issue) / Metropolitan Asylums Board. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ANNUAL REPORT. REVIEW FOR THE YEAR. 1. For the third consecutive year the annual report of the Board appears in a much abbreviated form. The claims of the war on the resources and mind of the nation are such that little is left for other subjects, and annual reviews of this kind will tend to diminish while the war lasts. I. STAFF. Military 2. Following the order of the subjects dealt with service. last year? question of military service calls for attention in the first place, but the conditions are now such that practically nothing is left to the discretion of the Board except to comply with the requirements of the Government in the matter, and this the Board has done without demur. The Board has secured recognition of its work as one of national importance, and this step has relieved the situation to some extent. Remuneration g# Questions of pay and food have bulked very and rationing:. ]argeiy? as might have been expected. Instead of fixing a war bonus for each grade of staff employed, it was decided to adopt a sliding scale, according to which the bonus will vary with the findings of the Board of Trade as to the actual cost of living from time to time. The difficulties of boarding the staff have been considerable, partly owing to the shortage of food-stuffs, partly to the restric¬ tions imposed by the Government, partly to the different practices of different supervising officers, partly to the different kinds of kitchen appliances, and partly to the idiosyncrasies of certain sections of the staff. Most of these difficulties have been mitigated or overcome. The sub-committee which has had charge of the matter has each month issued a menu, according to which all the boarded staff, numbering some 4,500 out of a total of 7,000, have been fed alike at all institutions. The arrangement has, however, been so diversified that there has been no mechanical sequence in the order of meals or of dishes, as so often happens where insufficient attention is paid to such matters. Kitchen appliances have been supplemented and improved with considerable advantage to the preparation of food, both in quality and in appearance, and to economy both in time and