THE early district nurses provided a valuable service to their patients, but life did not always run smoothly.

There were occasional disputes between nurses and doctors over who was responsible for what.

We recalled last week how, before the NHS came into being in 1948, district nurses provided a basic health service for working people, with patients charged a fee of between six and 10 shillings (30p-50p) a year.

The Bagley Wood District Nursing Association, for example, served the villages of Kennington, Sunningwell, Wootton, Radley and South Hinksey.

Robert Sephton, of Cherwell Close, Abingdon, who has written a book about the association, recalls how doctors felt that nurses were taking over work previously done by them.

There was a rule that nurses should work only under the direction of a doctor, but since nurses were more accessible, cheaper and better known to their patients, the rule was often broken.

In 1934, Nurse Hunt, who served Kennington and Radley patients, admitted giving drugs not prescribed by a ‘medical man’ and said she would continue to do so. Despite a petition from Kennington subscribers, she was sacked as “not suitable for the post”.

In 1939, Dr Seagar complained that Nurse Hay had told two expectant mothers to “have nothing to do with him”.

Nurse Hay appears to have had a reputation for being outspoken – one patient spoke of her “abrupt Scotch manner”. However, Dr Seagar’s complaint was investigated and found to be groundless.

Earlier, nurses were occasionally in conflict with their predecessors, the village ‘handywomen’, who had combined nursing and midwifery with cleaning and laying out the dead.

Mr Sephton writes: “Nurse Fraser complained that a handywoman was still working in the district. She and her kind were usually looked up to and respected as ‘the woman called for’ as she arrived with the carbolic soap and took over the household for a birth or laying out.

“At worst, they were probably better than nothing and may even have been preferred by some villagers to the new nurses.”

Although Nurse Fraser’s complaint was investigated, no action appears to have been taken.

Nurse Baker and Nurse Marchant were firmly rebuffed when they asked for a pay rise, although Nurse Marchant was given “certain necessities” for her home and “help with any distempering”.

More memories of the early district nurses next week.