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26
Brompton Hospital.—Since November, 1908, patients residing in Kensington and attending the
Brompton Hospital have been notified to the Medical Officer of Health with a view to affording
them the benefit of the advice and assistance of the Council's lady inspectors in carrying out the
instructions given them at the hospital. As part of their notification scheme, the hospital authorities
have generously undertaken to examine without a subscriber's letter any person in the families of
the patients visited who appear to be in ill health and possibly suffering from consumption. Should
a person under these circumstances prove to be phthisical, he can obtain a letter entitling him to
treatment from the Kensington Borough Council who are subscribers to the hospital. It must be
clearly understood in reference to this scheme, that no patient is notified except with his express
consent.
Only 33 notifications from the Brompton Hospital were received during the year. Three
suspects from the families of the phthisical persons notified were referred to the staff ot the hospital
for medical examination.
Work of the Lady Inspectors.—The total number of cases of consumption coming to
the notice of the Public Health Department under the new Public Health (Tuberculosis)
Regulations from voluntary agencies and through death certificates was 387, and of these 168
terminated fatally during the year. For the purpose of giving advice and of making inquiries 331
first visits and 352 re-visits were made to the homes of persons who have died or were suffering
from consumption. A printed card of advice was left with each notified case and sputum flasks
were supplied to 40 of the patients visited. A large number of the patients had already been
supplied with flasks at the infirmary or at the Brompton Hospital.
From the following table it will be seen that 79 deaths occurred in persons who had been
previously notified.

Eighty-nine fatal cases occurred in persons not previously notified as suffering from consumption
and 51 consumptive persons were not notified until the year in which they died. Thus
more than half the fatal cases were not notified at all, whilst the remainder were not reported until
the disease was far advanced. Some indication of the duration of certain cases of phthisis may be
gathered from the above table which shows that four persons dying in 1909 were known to have
suffered from consumption for more than three years and that two persons were known to
have suffered for more than five years. Since early notification is the exception, it may be safely
assumed that the average duration of phthisis is far greater than the figures in the table suggests,
and is probably not less than three years. It is estimated on good authority at 10 years, but,
taking the lower estimate, there must be living in the Borough of Kensington at the present
moment not less than 500 consumptive persons. The probable number of cases is arrived at by
multiplying the deaths in one year (168) by the figure 3, which represents the assumed duration of
the disease in years. The duration of consumption cannot be ascertained with any degree of
accuracy by inquiry into the past histories of the cases visited, but the approximate dates of onset
obtained by the lady inspectors have a relative value and indicate an average duration of three to
four years.