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38
Of these, 312 were renotifications, the new Poor Law eases
notified in 1910 numbering- 259.
In addition to the cases notified under the Poor Law Tuberculosis
Regulations, the following notifications respecting
persons suffering from tuberculosis were received:—
From hospitals 50
From private medical practitioners 35
From the Education Department, L.C.C. 7
of which 25 were duplicate notifications, so that the total
number of new cases reported was 326.
In my report for 1909 I commented on the present unsatisfactory
methods of dealing with the notified cases of phthisis,
and suggested that of local measures the most suitable would
be the establishment in Fulham of a tuberculosis dispensary,
modelled on the lines of the Royal Victoria Dispensary for
Consumptives in Edinburgh, founded by Dr. R. W. Philip,
and it is satisfactory to know that a movement is now on foot,
which it is hoped will shortly materialise, to found such an
institution in this borough.
The essential feature of (he system is the provision of the
services of a doctor, who not only sees the patients when they
come to the dispensary, but visits them in their homes, and
examines other members of the household ; and the value of
the latter is shown by the fact that of some 1,500 cases which
have been dealt with by the Paddington dispensary nearly
one-third were discovered by this home visiting, and in early
recognition and treatment lies the chief hope of cure.
The doctor, too, is assisted by a trained nurse, who makes
periodical visits and endeavours to ensure that patients treated
at home shall carry out the instructions they have received.
The dispensary also provides the means for classifying the
cases and for securing for each the most appropriate treatment,
whether in a hospital, sanatorium, or patient's home,
and, by co-operation with the various charitable agencies,