ST. HELEN’S HOME

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21933, 30 January 1946, Page 2

ST. HELEN’S HOME

PROJECT DECLINED USE AS NURSES’ HOME EXPENSE PROHIBITIVE The project of converting St. Helen s Home for the purpose of temporary accommodation for the nursing staff of the Cook Hospital Board for whom the board at present has no accommodation was declined by yesterday's meeting. The managing secretary, Mr. C. A. Harries, who had boon asked to report on the suitability of the homo for this purpose, stated that 14 nurses could be accommodated in the building. The services block could be made suitable for change and rest rooms for domestic staff living out. and tor nurses ironing and service rooms. The present kitchen and dining-room services would be adequate, he said. The cost of alteration would not bo very great, and the building could be made suitable for the purpose. The matron advised that staff and senior nurses would be the most suitable group to put into occupation, if this were decided upon. These nurses would not require to attend lectures.

Domestic Staffing It would be necessary to provide a cook and an assistant who would relieve on days off. and two maids. This number would be necessary to allow for the operation of a 40-hour week. Nurses in occupation would' have varying shifts and days off. There would be considerable traffic by taxi, and the cost would be substantial. Domestic staffing, delivery of supplies and laundering would entail regular deliveries from the hospital. If the building were half-filled the staffing would appear extravagant. It would be unwise not to make the whole of the home available for accommodation. , ~ The gardener at Lister Hospital would continue to divide his duties between the two institutions. The building would require to be suitably equipped with furniture throughout. The medical officer of health had recommended that it be not occupied until fumigation, airing, re-papering and re-painting had been carried out, and that it be" not re-occupied for six months (i.e., June).

“Because of the growth.of the nursing service, the use of the building can only be regarded as a temporary measure,” continued Mr. Harries. “The IG-bed block was a temporary measure. A casual domestic for cleaning is all that is necessary in that building.

“The board is faced with the necessity of meeting future requirements, particularly when it is remembered that a 48-hour week for nurses still operates,-” Mr. Harries concluded. Cheaper to Board Out

“If we were to board the nurses out it would cost us £IOO each per year, giving a total of £I4OO, but if we send them out to our own home it will cost us about £250 each per year,” Mr. H. H. Barker stated. “It does seem absurd to have one domestic to 3J people, for that is what the position will be,” he continued, and suggested that what the bbard could do would be to give the nurses their allowance of £IOO per year and let them use the home rent free and run it among themselves on a communal basis. i For the board to run a 14-room nurses’ home on the basis suggested would be highly uneconomical. “On the face of it the whole thing seems ludicrous, and I think we would be wise to board them out rather than open up the home,” Mr. Barker concluded. “To offer the nurses St. Helen’s an ’ leave it to them to keep it tidy and fend for themselves seems hardly fair,” Mrs. R. E. Scott considered. “I don’t think that nurses after a hard day’s work at fhe hospital will feel like having to care for their own home, and we should offer them something better than that,” she declared. “Mr. Barker’s idea appeals to me, though we cannot pass judgment, until after we have heard the nurses’ views,” commented Mr. R. E. Black.

He said, however, that they should authorise the work suggested by the Department of Health, which the board did agree to do. The 40-Hour Week “The nurses are some of the few who are not getting a 40-hour five-day week,” the chairman, Mr. M. T. Trafford, stated. There was a possibility that they would be brought in line with other workers, which would mean more staff, so before they went ahead and contemplated any additional accommodation they should know what the full requirements would be. Mr. Trafford considered it better to pay the £IOO per year to have the nurses live out until the board could get new accommodation, which, however, was out of the question at present. They should not put up any more buildings for at least five years, until prices came down. “We certainly should not agree to St. Helen's Home being converted for use by the nurses,” he declared, a view which was shared by the majority of other members.