Contents -

Around the Hospital
Round the N.H.S.
Road Safety
Social Evening
Rehab. News
Thalidomide
Nurses' Smoking Habits
Letter to the Editors
Miscellany
A Message from Tonto
For Sale

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EDITORIAL COMMENT
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An account of the Agenda of the last Joint Consultative meeting is included this week. Of particular interest is the future of consultation itself in the new N.H.S.

As the Minutes show, little is known for certain, and staff are encouraged to consider Joint Consultation as one of the ways in which they can make their views and needs known.

Nail your representative - he or she will be able to give you more than the bare bones of what goes on.

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AROUND THE HOSPITAL
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Farewell to Mr Ronnie Emerson, Deputy Charge Nurse on M8D. He leaves next Wednesday for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to rejoin an air-defence project there code-named Peacehawk. He has already spent quite some time there in a Nursing capacity. Although he has enjoyed his time at Winwick Mr Emerson has decided to return in response to news that the nursing situation there is difficult, He looks forward to seeing his name in the Welcome column of The Standard again, however.

JOINT CONSULTATIVE STAFFS COMMITTEE

At the January meeting of the. Joint Consultative Staffs Committee, the following items were discussed:

1)	Disposal of Food Waste.
2)	Lack of Domestic Staff at Weekends and Bank Holidays.
3)	Enforcement of Fire Precautions.
4)	Joint Consultative Machinery after April 1974.
5)	Request from NUPE concerning 'The Standard'.

The minutes of the meeting are available for study on the staff notice boards.

P.C.

FURTHER STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FIRM AND UNIT SYSTEM AT WINWICK

At a meeting of ward sisters and charge nurses held in the In-Service Training Room on Wednesday 10 January, Dr B. Ward, Medical Superintendent, gave details of the forthcoming ward changes occasioned by the re-opening of Delph Hospital as a Rehabilitation Unit.

In a complicated series of moves, M9up patients are transferred to M10, F7up patients are sent to Winwick Hall and M6up and M4up moves into F7up. 20 of M4D patients move to F7up and the remainder to M9up. Thus, wards M4up and M4D are emptied, and are ready for upgrading by the Contractors.

In the female wards, F4up patients are divided between M7up, F6up and other long-stay wards. F3up patients move into F4up, and the majority of F7D patients move to F3up. F1D patients are then transferred to F7D and this frees F1D for use as an admission ward for the Bootle/Ormskirk/Southport area.

It is hoped that the ward moves can be accomplished within the period of one month.

Longer term plans include the use of M3up by the Warrington 'Firm' when up-grading is completed, and the interchanging of long-stay wards to give close association of wards, units and firms.

Psychogeriatric wards

The existing female psychogeriatric wards will be distributed between the three firms:

East and West Wing join the W'gton/Newton Firm
F9D joins the Widnes/Runcorn Firm
F8D & F8M join the Bootle/Ormskirk/Southport Firm.

M8D - the only male psychogeriatric ward - will continue to serve the whole catchment area, and will therefore be outside the Firm System.

P.C.

NURSE AIDS CRASH VICTIM

A Winwick nurse gained prominence in the local press when she rendered first aid to a seriously injured 20-year-old girl last week.

Brenda Leah was on a bus on her way to the hospital when she passed the scene of a car crash in Manchester Road, Woolston. She got off the bus at the next stop and ran back to help.

Nurse Leah is a deputy sister on ward F9D.

P.C.

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ROUND THE N.H.S.
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ROAD SAFETY AT RAINHILL

Patients at Rainhill Hospital are being given lessons in road safety. The courses, which have been organised by St. Helens Road Safety Department, are designed for the long-stay patients who may be alarmed by the increase in road traffic in the years since their admission.

P.C.

'NEW REGIONAL HEALTH AUTHORITIES UNNECESSARY' SAYS A.N.A.

Further criticism of the proposed reorganisation of the National Health Service was forthcoming last week, when the Association of Nurse Administrators commented on eight aspects of the management arrangements.

In general, the ANA expresses broad agreement in principle with the objectives of the reorganisation, but sees the Regional Health Authorities as an unnecessary tier in the proposed management structure. The Association believes that their proposed function could be satisfactorily discharged by regional offices of a central department which work in conjunction with Area Health Authorities with greater power and autonomy than it is now proposed they should have.

If RHAs do remain in the Management structure the ANA 'Strongly urge' that their power be limited.

In the area of the 'theory and style of management' the ANA express serious reservations about the adoption of one, largely untried, style of management for the NHS.

The ANA comments have been forwarded to the Department of Health and Social Security'

'Needle'

Stronger criticism of the proposed changes comes from 'Needle', a multidisciplinary group of Health service workers. Their opposition is based on the view that the proposals are merely a substitute for radical re-appraisal of the health care system. They see the emphasis as being on 'management' rather than 'participation' and deprecate the expansion of the private sector within the NHS and the use of health charges as a means of finance. They disagree with the criterion of 'cost-effectiveness' taking precedence over the social value of health care.

P.C.

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SOCIAL EVENING - A NEW VENTURE
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Tuesday, January 9 saw a departure from the usual tradition of Staff Xmas functions when a Social Evening was held in the Recreational Hall for staff and their guests.

The new venture was welcomed, for over 500 guests were present, but much criticism of the organisation of the evening was in evidence. First, the layout of the tables seemed to lack imagination, in that most of them were massed in rows at the rear two-thirds of the hall, instead of being arranged round the perimeter, leaving a clear space in the centre. Moreover, the fact that tables nearest the stage were 'reserved' occasioned derogatory comment. Second, the inadequacy of the P.A. system was again in evidence, and the singer, John Recklaw, was barely audible at the rear of the hall. However, the "Jacksons" - a folk group - were none too distinct, even with their own equipment. Third, the need for a long crocodile of guests queuing up for their Chicken in the Basket marred the sense of relaxation needed for a good night out. Also, the usually excellent catering facilities suffered a slip, when supplies of chicken dwindled, and some guests received only meagre portions.

On the other hand, the music of the Lew Garner Disco, and the entertaining (!) games of Bingo were well-received, and most people agreed that the evening was a worthwhile venture - in spite of everything they enjoyed themselves - and it is evident that there is indeed a need for this type of alternative to the staff dances.

One final comment - Les Bayliss' sentiments were echoed again this year when some complaints were heard of excessive prices charged in the bar.

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A MESSAGE FROM TONTO
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Once again it's been a bad year for goats, with humans confirming their ascendancy in the vital fields of politics, economics, education and technological achievements. Only in the Arts and in the mountains have goats maintained their supremacy. Eton, Harrow and many other top public schools are still closed to goats, and, of the Services, only the R.A.F. allows goats to take up anything other than short-service commissions. Fashion still passes us by, and when did you last see a goat on Top of the Pops?

If we are to change this at all, we must learn to THINK GOAT. Don't think of yourself as the plaything of Alpine milkmaids, the mascot of the Irish Guards... Think of yourself as a GOAT. Don't be compromised by the R.S.P.C.A... remember - GOAT IS GREAT! Right on!

Yours,
Tonto

P.S. Do not eat this message

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ROAD SAFETY
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For the safety and well-being of staff and patients newly accommmodated in Delph Hospital, may I make a special request that everybody crossing the main road on foot does so by using the foot bridge provided for the purpose.

This is a very busy traffic road with fast traffic (in a restricted area) and under no circumstances should the road be crossed by climbing over the central reservation barrier.

Will staff please set an example.

R. French,
Hosp.Sec

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REHABILITATION NEWS
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re. The memo concerning the placing of patients in internal working situations.
To date the results have been somewhat less than satisfactory. In fairness, however, referrals over the last fourteen days are steadily increasing. The record so far is 17 referrals dealt with; 14 resulting in placements; 3 still not finalised.
The aim is to achieve more detailed selectivity, and to develop a proper introductory procedure to the working area in question. Using these methods it is hoped to establish a better follow-up procedure. The results so far are certainly very satisfactory as regards the degree of co-operation from the employers approached. A greater degree of interest and involvement should result in better working conditions, which will in turn produce a such higher return in terms of rehabilitation. However, much of this effort will be cancelled out if we are forced to continue the £1 maximum incentive. Unless this problem can be dealt with we will continue to be found wanting, and in the last analysis be guilty of perpetuating patient exploitation in terms of the working situations.

J.A.Jolley

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THALIDOMIDE - AND OTHER DRUGS
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It is current news that the Company which marketed Thalidomide in this country is having to pay dearly for neglecting to perform tests for effects which at that time were entirely unforeseen.

It may not be generally realised that other drugs may have similar effects on the unborn child.

R.S. Illingworth, professor of child health, Children's Hospital, Sheffield, has recently said (Medical News - Tribune, November 13); "The number of drugs which may occasionally cause foetal abnormalities if taken in pregnancy is ever-increasing, and the number of drugs taken by mothers is so large that it is difficult to assess the safety of any one of them."

He quotes the results of an Edinburgh study of 458 mothers of abnormal children, and of controls, which indicated that significantly more mothers of the abnormal children had taken simple drugs such as analgesics (especially aspirins) antacids, barbiturates and dexamphetamine.

He tabulates some 40 drugs, or groups of drugs, which, if taken in pregnancy, may affect the foetus including those where the risk to the foetus is small. He says, "It is an alarming list; and the best advice which one can offer to any pregnant woman is that she should take medicine in pregnancy only when it is absolutely necessary - and that is rare."

H. Taberner

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NURSES' SMOKING HABITS UNDER STUDY
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The smoking habits of qualified. nurses are to be studied over two years in research financed by the Social Sciences Research Council. The study is to be carried out by Mrs Sheila Hiller, of the Social Research Unit at Bedford College, London.

Mrs Hiller has recently completed a survey into the smoking habits of student nurses which was financed by Action on Smoking and Health. From this study Mrs Hiller felt that some issues were raised which required more detailed study. The SSRC finance will allow her to pursue these issues.

From the initial survey of student nurses it became apparent that these who smoke differ from those who do not in a number of ways. The smokers tended to be more extrovert and their skill seemed to lie more in managing interpersonal relationships, while non-smokers appeared to be of a more independent nature. The majority of smokers seemed to have friends who smoked, whereas non-smokers appeared to choose other nonsmokers as friends,

Smokers were found to suffer more frequently from more symptoms, especially respiratory ones, and sickness records showed that the hospitals with large numbers of smoking nurses had higher rates of absence than those with fewer smoking nurses.

P.C.

TO The Editor

With reference to Mr Shaw's excellent series of articles on Work Study, Productivity Bargaining, etc. two questions:

1. How can Mr Shaw as a Trade Union Representative recommend his members to accept productivity "deals" in a situation where massive unemployment exists. Productivity deals, which in essence consist of accepting that before more pay can be given, more work must be done by the individual concerned, must lead in either the short or long term to more unemployment. This is so because it implies that the available work must be done by fewer people. "Efficiency" is, in principle, a valid goal to be aimed for but surely not at the expense of more workers finding themselves in the dole queue.
2, Don't productivity negotiations imply that workers are already being paid adequately for the work which is done? This is obviously untrue, given the fact that another group, of people (in an Industrial context the shareholders) are making profit out of the work force and, hence, are receiving money for performing no useful work. "Profit" is the part of the value of the work which is never received by the worker. The worker is therefore always underpaid in terms of the work done. Productivity bargaining serves only to confuse the T.U. member about this basic truth.

Yours sincerely
E. Bromley

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MISCELLANY
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We are pleased to note that Mrs J,E. Old, who will remembered by many staff as a Dept. Matron here, has gained promotion to Principal Nursing Officer (Top) in the West Cumberland H.M.C. from Dec. 4th. Mrs Old previously held the post of Regional Nursing Officer at the Liverpool R.H.B.

P.C.

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FOR SALE
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M.G. 1100 car (1963). Breaking up for spares. Box No. 4.

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