Contents -

Professional Hour
Letters to the Editor
Miscellany
Nursing News
Notice

PROFESSIONAL HOUR PROFESSIONAL

The Professional Hour held on Thursday, 16th August was on Rehabilitation as pursued at West Cheshire Hospital. Present were the members of the Rehabilitation Team consisting of Dr. R. Middlefell, two Charge Nurses, one acting as Employment Officer the other as Charge Nurse of the Rehabilitation Unit, an Occupational Therapist seconded to the team and accompanied by an ex-patient now resettled in the community.

Prior to the talk in the afternoon the team visited the hospital and such places of interest as the Anafranil Unit, Infirmary Wards and the Rehabilitation Unit.

Proceedings were opened by Dr. Middlefell who outlined the aims and object the progress and problems of this particular area of involvement in a very sincere and forthright manner (this appears to be a common denominator of people working in Rehabilitation), after which each member of the team gave a brief discussion on their own areas of this work.

To me the highlight of the afternoon was the opportunity to speak to and hear from the patient who had accompanied them. The fact that I had known this man for many years and played cricket against him was an added pleasure and it would be hard to describe my reaction, perhaps, best left at a feeling of humility.

Although many of the approaches to the problem of rehabilitation were similar to our own, perhaps the main difference was our accent on the need of our particular rehabilitees to be re-employable and to a greater extent self-supporting when resettled in the community. Although nobody could disagree with Dr. Middlefell when he stated that this is not the essential criteria, and that all long stay patients should be treated with the same degree of intensity, and the fact could not be denied that society ought to face its responsibilities in supporting these people.

General discussion and questions were freely answered by all members of the team, and towards the end it was suggested that a half-day symposium of speakers from a number of hospitals would be advantageous, and might be considered in the not too distant future.

In conclusion we can only wish our colleagues at West Cheshire success and hope that their efforts will continue to produce the gratifying results which they appear to be achieving at this moment. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity too for us to note our appreciation to Mr. A. Critchley and Miss E. Pennington in the, work which they do to make stimulating and valuable Professional Hours available to us.

J. A. Jolley
On behalf of the Publications Committee.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Sir,

I was embarrassed on checking my essay "I'm alright Jack" (The Standard August 2nd) to note that due to an error I made in transcription a sentence in the last paragraph was incomplete and therefore misleading,

The sentence should have read as follows: "This country - in which I, like a very large proportion of my co-workers in the psychiatric hospital field, am an alien - is rightly regarded as one of the most civilized countries of the world."

The adverb rightly and phrase "like a very large proportion of my co-workers in the psychiatric hospital field" did not appear in the text in the Standard. I hope as far as your readers are concerned that the uncompleted sentence did not grate on too many sensitive chauvinistic nerves. If it has, the object of the essay, namely the sharing of professional insights with the nursing readership of the Standard will have been largely defeated.

I regret the omissions for another very important reason as well. It is this: without the omitted words the sentence in the text of the Standard, changed the character and tone of the whole essay. Because of the deletions, what was intended to be taken seriously may evoke a trivialising and/or hostile respons which could be expressed in the form of racial or personal invective. This would be an unhappy result because it would lower the level of subsequent debate and might nourish feelings of guilt which might take a long time to resolve.

The Standard shou1d, I think, be used as a medium for the exchange of ideas and insights with a view to the bridging of divisions. This sometimes means that antitherapeutic divisions have to be identified and this process is often not without pain. Because most of us are amateur writers (who through no fault of our own "know nothing of the G.C.E.") the risk of this happening is increased.

I hope that this letter which I would have submitted earlier but for the fact that I have been on holiday during the last fortnight will clear up any misunderstandings or misgivings caused by that part of "I'm alright, Jack" to which I have referred.

Thank you for the space you have given me.

Yours faithfully,
Cathal Breslin.

On behalf of the staff and patients of Wards l7 and 18, originally Wards 45 and 36. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all persons concerned who enabled the quick and efficient movement of these two wards recently.

Our special thanks to Mr. Bartholomew and staff for the cleaning of the two wards, hanging of curtains etc. Also thanks to the girls of the sewing room who deserve praise for making the beautiful curtains.

I could go on and on but may thanks very much to all.

Yours sincerely,
S.E. BARR.

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MISCELLANY

Boys Raleigh Cycle - Suit
7-11 year old Good condition £12. O.N.O.

Box No. 21

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NURSING NEWS

Technical Nursing Library

New books available on loan -

'Management of Constipation' - Jones and Godding
'State Final Questions and Answers for Nurses' - J. Bevan
'The Psychology of Fear and Stress' - J.A. Gray
'Nurse and Patient' - E. Pearce

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NOTICE

Patients from the Art Department, Winwick Hospital with a little aid from the staff won three prizes at the Newton & District llth Annual Show on August 18th 1973. They were 1st prize for a model, two seconds, a collage and a painting with two others highly commended.

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