LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
[Letters of Me length of one of our leading paragraphs are Wen more read, and therefore more effective, than those which fill treble the space.]
THE WOMAN'S SENIOR WAR SERVICE.
(To THE EDITOR Or THE " &Emma.")
Sia,—May I take this opportunity of replying to the very fair and straightforward article entitled " The Woman's Senior War Service " which appeared in the Spectator of September 7th ? I have been Commandant of an Auxiliary Military Hospital since October, 1914, and may perhaps therefore be excused if I try to prove from my own personal experiences and those of the members of my Detachment bow urgently reforms in the terms of service in Voluntary Aid Detachments are needed.
For three years I staffed my hospital (which started with fifty beds and now has one hundred and thirty-three) from the ranks of my own friends and acquaintances who had worked with the Detachment since its formation in November, 1911, when it will be remembered a great effort was made by those in authority to get people to band themselves together so that in case of invasion they might be handled more easily. During those three years six of my most highly trained members left me for service abroad, and ene married. Fortunately some one always turned up to take their places, and we were able to "carry on" quite comfortably. In the curly spring of this year, however, I had a run of had luck, and in three months I lost no less than nine resident members. Four, after more than two years' service with me, went to nurse in France, two left to take work nearer home, one decided to work in an Officers' Hospital, one left to be married, and the ninth was obliged to go home as her only sister was already nursing abroad, and her parents felt that they must have one girl with them. By every means in my power I tried to replace these members, but with little or no success. All the younger members of the families I knew, and from whom I had hoped to draw recruits, gave the same answer. "What, be a V.A.D. ? No thank you! I can do just ES good work for the country as a W.A.A.C. or a W.R.N., and get decently paid for it at the same time." This, of course, is quite true, and whether we admire the sentiments expressed or not, they are evidently the opinions held by many girls who might take service in the Auxiliary Military Hospitals if the terms of service were made a little more up to date and attractive. After trying all local sources I wrote for the first time for help to Devonshire House, but was told that there was very little hope of getting voluntary helpers as these were almost exhausted. However, one member was " posted " to me for six weeks, but unfortunately she was obliged to leave at the end of a fortnight her brother died. I again wrote most urgently to Headquarters saying that unless I got help I did not see how I could possibly parry on the hospital, and after some weeks two house members were sent to me. These also, however, only stayed a few weeks. In despair I then advertised in the Times, and at once had three very promising replies, all obviously from ladies, asking for par- ticulars of the hospital and the duties required, but stating most clearly that they could not for a moment entertain the project unless a salary were offered. I have now arranged to take two out of the three, giving them respectively salaries of £20 and £22 per annum with 2s. Gd. weekly washing money, and I further promised to pay their travelling expenses. I then appealed for help in the local daily papers, and again the most suitable applicants were those who asked for a salary. From this source I secured two house members, and agreed to give them the same pay as the ether two, with the same washing and travelling allowances.
I have explained my difficulties at some length in the hope that I may prove to others what I firmly believe myself—that if all V.A.D.'s who desire a salary are not given one, there will shortly only be left a totally inadequate number of voluntary workers from which to staff the Auxiliary Military Hospitals. The author of the article which has called forth this reply asks the following emotions:— 0) Has anything been done to retain the services of the capable and efficient women who first staffed the Auxiliary Hospitals F—To that question I would answer " Nothing at all."
(2) Is there a real danger that an actual shortage of workers in
Auxiliary Military Hospitals may arise P—I think most Com- mandants will agree with me in saying that the danger has already arisen, and that unless sonic drastic step is promptly taken to Inert it, we shall very soon find ourselves unable to carry on. (3) Whose. is the fault of the shortage—(a) that of the workers themselves, or (b) that of the Societies responsible for serving the sick and wounded F—I would reply most emphatically to the first of these questions that the workers are in no way to blame. They have served most loyally for over three years a country that has treated them with very little consideration, and their one desire has been to do their best for those who have done so much for them. Concerning the second half of the question I would ask : Is it not time that the Societies responsible for serving the sick and 'wounded should revise the whole system of service in Auxiliary Military Hospitals ? When these Voluntary Aid Detachments were first raised no one thought that the war would last the length of time that it has already done, and surely there is nothing unreasonable in suggesting that methods which were only intended to fill a gap in the Nursing Service should after four years be revised and brought more into line with other War Services. Some of us are now entering on our fifth year of voluntary service, and I do not think we can be blamed if we ask that the Service to which we have the honour to belong should be revised and brought " up' to date."
(4) Can any remedy be suggested ?—A few weeks ago I sent several suggestions which I thought might be helpful to Devon- shire House, but they were not received with any degree of cordiality. It would take up too much of your valuable space to give them in detail. I will, therefore, merely take the reply to the one dealing with the payment of V.A.D.'s :— " With regard to the question of paying V.A.D.'s. This question has been discussed with the Military Authorities at intervals during the last eighteen months, and has always been answered in the negative. The fact is that although the Auxiliary Military Hospitals are of inestimable value to the country and to the patients, if the expense of running them were increased to the extent it would be if the whole staff became salaried, the War Office would close the majority of these hospitals, certainly the small ones, and would place the convalescents in camps, which arrangement would be much less expensive, but would, of course, be a great disadvantage to the men."
I doubt if it is possible for any disinterested person to enter into the feelings of a Commandant who reads the above statement. To have given four years of your life to the care of the sick and wounded, and then to be told that you and your work are of so little moment that, should you venture to ask for a pittance of £20 a year for the girls who have worked so splendidly for you and for their country, your hospital (quite possibly your own home or that of some near relative) will be closed, and the men you have nursed back to health, and in that nursing have so thoroughly learnt to know and respect, will be placed in con. valesoent camps, which "would be much less expensive," is indeed a bitter pill to swallow.
A good deal has appeared in the Press from time to time about certain " allowances " which may now be paid to V.A.D.'s working in Auxiliary Military Hospitals. We have been told that in " cases where members cannot afford to work for nothing it is now possible to pay them salaries," also that the Uniform Grant "may in certain cases be raised from £5 to £8." I should like to explain these statements so that the public may understand how very little they really amount to. All Commandants may now claim from their County Director a sum equal in amount to the number of established beds in the hospital. As my hospital con- tains one hundred and thirty-three beds I receive a sum of £133 per annum, which I may use at my discretion for the payment of my V.A.D.'s. I discussed the question of the distribution of this fund with the members of my Detachment, and there seemed to be a very general feeling that the expenses of washing and tram-fares should no longer be paid out of the nurse's pocket. As I entirely_ agreed with this point of view I decided to spend the Grant in the following way : To give each resident member 2s. Gd. weekly for washing money. To give each daily member 4d. a day for the same purpose, and to pay her tram-fare. The annual cost of this arrangement will be £127. I shall therefore have £0 left for salaries, Uniform Grants, and travelling expenses. I have heard that "figures may be made to prove anything." If any mathe- matician can prove to me how this can be managed he will earn ray undying gratitude. The serious question now facing me is, Having got my V.A.D.'s, how are they to be paid ? Are the salaries to be taken from the already overburdened Maintenance Grant of 3s. 3d. per day, which already provides the food for both the nursing and domestic staffs, and also pays the wages of the latter, or must the generous public be again exploited ? The former suggestion is obviously out of the question. The poor Maintenance Grant has proved itself to have a very broad back; but I honestly think the addition of " salaries " would prove the last straw.
There remains then the long-suffering public. But even if the public were prepared to provide funds for this purpose, is the V.A.D. prepared to accept help of this descriptton P When all is said and done, she does not ask for charity or grudgingly bestowed " allowances." What she wants is recognition and acknowledged " pay," which her fellow-workers in the W.A.A.C. and W.R.N.S. have had since the day they enlisted. There are, of course, many women who neither require nor desire to be paid, and who would prefer to retain their voluntary status to the end of the war. But surely the woman of means who can afford to " give " her services would be the last to wish that others less fortunately situated than herself should suffer on her account. And I do not see any reason why any person should be " forced " to be either " paid " or " voluntary." Let each have the choice and decide for herself. But let us see that the word " voluntary" is only bestowed where it is deserved, and let there be an end put to the application of it to describe those members of the Red Cross and S.J.A. who are working in the large Military Hospitals at home and abroad, and are receiving a salary for their services. Why should they be any more described as voluntary than the W.A.A.C. or W.R.N.S.
May I close my letter by quoting a few words spoken to me the other day by a young relative home on ten days' leave from France who is an " A.A." in the W.A.A.C., and who has also two years' foreign service to her credit as a V.A.D.? " I never knew," she said, " what a worm I was as a V.A.D. until I became an officer in the W.A.A.C.'s." This seems to me to hit the nairon the head to a surprising degree. However, even a " worm" will turn, and unless steps are quickly taken to improve the "Senior Ser- vice" I very much fear we shall shortly see our " V.A.D. worms" blossoming into " officer W.A.A.C.'s."—I am, Sir, &c.,
Previous page
