In anticipation of a meeting of the Conference of Visiting Committees of Asylums in England and Wales, to be held in London on 5 February 1919, which was considering the topic of nursing wages and hours of service, the Retreat called a local Conference on 31 January 1919, for representatives of asylums in York and its neighbourhood, in order to consider questions of remuneration and conditions of service of nurses at asylums. The result of the Retreat Conference was the passing of a resolution stating that it was important to make a greater distinction between the salary of a trained, qualified nurse and that of a probationer in training or a nurse who failed to obtain a sufficiently high standard. This resolution was sent to the London Conference. The representatives at the Retreat Conference were from York City Asylum, the North Riding Asylum, Bootham Park, the Retreat, and York Poor Law Guardians. There are two surviving files of papers: 1. Correspondence relating to the Conference, 1918-1919 2. Papers of information about the remuneration of nurses and attendants at the Retreat and at the other asylums in York, Yorkshire and elsewhere, 1913-1919