London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
St Pancras 1921
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
76
CHEMICAL AND BACTERIOLOGICAL WORK.
The Borough Council has an arrangement with the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, Chelsea Gardens, S.W.1, for the bacteriological examination at the expense of the Council of material from St. Pancras cases sent to them through medical practitioners in regard to diphtheria, tuberculosis, and typhoid fever. The work done in 1921 was as follows:—
| Total. | Positive. | Negative. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Examination of— Swabs for B. diphtheriae | 501 | 111 | 390 |
| Sputum for B. tuberculosis | 259 | 44 | 215 |
| Blood for Widal reaction (typhoid, &c.) | 13 | 4 | 9 |
Examinations of sputum have also been made at the tuberculosis dispensaries (see page
45).
Facilities for the examination of cerebrospinal fluid in suspected cases of cerebrospinal
fever, &c., are available to the Medical Officer of Health through the London County Council
laboratory, and for the examination of the blood in suspected malaria through the Ministry
of Health.
The chemical work of the Public Analyst (Mr. J. Kear Colwell, F.I.C.) in connection
with the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts is referred to on page 73.
Section VII.— OTHER SERVICES.
Cordial co-operation exists between the work of the Council and the voluntary agencies
performing work of public health and social importance. These agencies include the various
hospitals and dispensaries, the local District Nursing Associations, the Maternity Nursing
Association, the Invalid Children's Aid Association, the Charity Organisation Society, the
British Red Cross, the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association, the National Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the Invalid Kitchens, the Mary Ward Settlement,
Lyndhurst Hall, &c. Voluntary agencies subsidised by the Council are referred to
particularly in Section II of this Report (Maternity and Child Welfare).
Home Nursing.
As regards district nursing, the Borough comprises the whole of the district of the
Central St. Pancras District Nursing Association, and large portions of the districts of the
Metropolitan Nursing Association, the Hampstead District Nursing Association, and the North
London Nursing Association. The associations were paid by the Council or the Mayoress'
Nursing Fund for the nursing of cases of measles, whooping cough, ophthalmia neonatorum,
infantile diarrhoea, influenza and pneumonia, but the bulk of their work is supported by voluntary
funds. The home nursing is of very great public health importance, and the need for its extension
and support from public funds is very great. The home nursing work done during 1921
in St. Pancras is indicated by the following figures:—
No. of cases No. of home
nursed. visits paid.
Central St. Pancras District Nursing Association 842 10,639
Metropolitan Nursing Association (St. Pancras cases) 300 4,988
Hampstead District Association (St. Pancras cases) 190 2,303
North London Nursing Association (St. Pancras cases) 241 2,915
Reference is made on page 16 to the work of the voluntary hospitals.