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Pinewood Sanatorium, Wokingham, Berkshire
J a n u a r y - F e b r u a r y I946
Tv BERCLE
3x
Pinewood Sanatorium, Wokingham, Berkshire MEDICAL
SUPERINTENDENT, W .
Pinewood Sanatorium was built in i9oo in undulating country consisting largely of pine woods and open heath land. Originally a private sanatorium of 64 beds in single rooms, it was bought by the Metropolitan Asylums Board in I9I 9 and enlarged by huts to take i6o patients. I n 193o the L o n d o n C o u n t y Council took it over, and during the recent war as an emergency measure 48 additional patients have been a c c o m m o d a t e d by putting 2 beds in most of the rooms. T h e huts are divided into double bedded cubicles, and house 8o convalescent patients. Steam pipe heating has lately been installed in main blocks and huts. Each door has a pneumatic silencer, and nurses are called by a light-signal system. Wireless headphones are fitted for each bed. T h e administrative block lies between two ward blocks of two storeys. T h e huts extend outwards beyond each ward block, so that the whole forms an arc facing roughly south. T h e dining hall and kitchens are on the north side of the m a i n drive behind the administrative block. There are two patients' recreation rooms, one with a small stage and a 'talkie' set. T h e other has a billiards table, card tables and library. There is a patients' craft room and a canteen in a separate building. A qualified craft instructress is employed. A nurses' home was built in 1936, but three other small buildings are also used by the nursing staff, who have an all-weather tennis court and a b a d m i n t o n court. T h e nursing staff average 5 ~ , of which 23 are state registered or T.A. trained. T h e Sanatorium is a post-graduate school for
C.
FOWLER,
M.D.
the State Registered Nurse entering for the T.A. Certificate, and an affiliated training school under the General Nursing Council. It is also a training school for student nurses seconded for three months' training in tuberculosis from the general hospitals in the L.C.C. service. A sister tutor is employed. There are two medical officers in addition to the Medical Superintendent. A dentist holds two sessions a week. T w o thoracic surgeons and an E.N.T. surgeon attend regularly. A patients' welfare officer comes once a m o n t h to deal with personal and domestic difficulties. A masseuse gives pro- and post-operative treatment for thoracoplasty cases. T h e treatment block, although small, is very well equipped with operating theatre, x-ray and dark rooms, sterilizing r o o m and waiting room on the ground floor. O n the first floor are the laboratory, record filing room, A.P. refill room, waiting room and dental room. T h e following is a statistical s u m m a r y of the work done in i944: Number Average Average Number
of patients discharged 99 n u m b e r of beds occupied .. length of stay . . . . of A.P. induced--single .. double .. P n e u m o o e r i t o n e u m induc.... tions
316 2o 4 7-8 months t~8 19
9 .... Thoracoplas operations.. 4~ .... Thoracoscopies . . . . 66 ,, ,, Phrenic nerve operations 123 ,, ,,cases of open drainage of cavity . . . . . . 4 ,, ,, x-ray films taken .. 3,26i
Tv BERCLE
3x
Pinewood Sanatorium, Wokingham, Berkshire MEDICAL
SUPERINTENDENT, W .
Pinewood Sanatorium was built in i9oo in undulating country consisting largely of pine woods and open heath land. Originally a private sanatorium of 64 beds in single rooms, it was bought by the Metropolitan Asylums Board in I9I 9 and enlarged by huts to take i6o patients. I n 193o the L o n d o n C o u n t y Council took it over, and during the recent war as an emergency measure 48 additional patients have been a c c o m m o d a t e d by putting 2 beds in most of the rooms. T h e huts are divided into double bedded cubicles, and house 8o convalescent patients. Steam pipe heating has lately been installed in main blocks and huts. Each door has a pneumatic silencer, and nurses are called by a light-signal system. Wireless headphones are fitted for each bed. T h e administrative block lies between two ward blocks of two storeys. T h e huts extend outwards beyond each ward block, so that the whole forms an arc facing roughly south. T h e dining hall and kitchens are on the north side of the m a i n drive behind the administrative block. There are two patients' recreation rooms, one with a small stage and a 'talkie' set. T h e other has a billiards table, card tables and library. There is a patients' craft room and a canteen in a separate building. A qualified craft instructress is employed. A nurses' home was built in 1936, but three other small buildings are also used by the nursing staff, who have an all-weather tennis court and a b a d m i n t o n court. T h e nursing staff average 5 ~ , of which 23 are state registered or T.A. trained. T h e Sanatorium is a post-graduate school for
C.
FOWLER,
M.D.
the State Registered Nurse entering for the T.A. Certificate, and an affiliated training school under the General Nursing Council. It is also a training school for student nurses seconded for three months' training in tuberculosis from the general hospitals in the L.C.C. service. A sister tutor is employed. There are two medical officers in addition to the Medical Superintendent. A dentist holds two sessions a week. T w o thoracic surgeons and an E.N.T. surgeon attend regularly. A patients' welfare officer comes once a m o n t h to deal with personal and domestic difficulties. A masseuse gives pro- and post-operative treatment for thoracoplasty cases. T h e treatment block, although small, is very well equipped with operating theatre, x-ray and dark rooms, sterilizing r o o m and waiting room on the ground floor. O n the first floor are the laboratory, record filing room, A.P. refill room, waiting room and dental room. T h e following is a statistical s u m m a r y of the work done in i944: Number Average Average Number
of patients discharged 99 n u m b e r of beds occupied .. length of stay . . . . of A.P. induced--single .. double .. P n e u m o o e r i t o n e u m induc.... tions
316 2o 4 7-8 months t~8 19
9 .... Thoracoplas operations.. 4~ .... Thoracoscopies . . . . 66 ,, ,, Phrenic nerve operations 123 ,, ,,cases of open drainage of cavity . . . . . . 4 ,, ,, x-ray films taken .. 3,26i