GREAT NURSING HOME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 21068, 30 December 1931, Page 6

GREAT NURSING HOME.

ERECTION IN LONDON. MILLION POUNDS SCHEME. MIDDLE-CLASS PATIENTS. (from our own correspondent.] LONDON. Nov. 18 Arrangements for the erection of a large nursing home in Marylebone Road, London, with 600 beds for patients and hotel accommodation for friends and relatives. have reached an advanced stage. The scheme will involve an estimated expenditure of £1,000,000 and provide direct employment for 1000 men for 18 months. British materials will he used throughout. Demolition has already hegun on the site, and it is expected that building operations will be in full swing by the new year, and that by the Bummer of 1933 Wimpole House, rv- it is to be- named, will be completed Situated near Bnkpr Street Station, the Havaing home will be easy of access front all parts of London and close to 'lie Harlev Street district It is to l>e equipped with al! the latest r.pplinnces known* to medical scionce and will ne arranged to give the greatest possible service to the patient. A section of the building is being Specially arranged for the treatment of rheumatic and other diseases. Turkish and special baths, electrical and other treatments, also laboratories for research work and an X-ray department are to be installed. An important feature of the building is that there will be provision for relatives and friends of patients to stay in the home over a critical period instead of having to sleep at hotels or to make a sudden journey. This section will htive its own dining rooms and lounges. There will also be special lounges for convalescent patients with a sheltered roof garden. In an interview Mr. Harvey, trie promoter of. the scheme, explained that the home would cater for people who cannot easily afford ordinary nursing home fees, and who do not wish to go to public hospitals or institutions when they ate ill. He has decided that the cost to a patient for being cared for there shall be one guinea a day and no higher. The of course, will pay the fees for his or her own doctor or surgeon. "I know the voluntary hospitals have endeavoured to do what they can by their paying-bed system," he said, "but that'" does not touch the fringe of what is required. Owing to prevailing economic conditions and the general move towards flat life with limited home accommodation, the need for a nursing home such as I am building is greater to-day than ever. While each patient will be attended by his own medical man, there will b'6 a resident medical officer in the home, with six doctors serving under his direction. Their main task will be to look after the nursing service, but they will be available in cases of emergency when a patient's own doctor is not at hand."