London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
St Pancras 1917
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras]
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Treatment of Tuberculosis. The work done during 1917 at the approved tuberculosis dispensaries, which are completely subsidised by the Borough Council and through them by the Local Government Board, the London County Council and the London Insurance Committee, is shown in the following table based on returns supplied by the dispensaries:—
| Tuberculosis Dispensary at University College Hospital. | Tuberculosis Dispensary at St-Pancras Dispensary 39, Oakley Square | Branch Tuberculosis Dispensary of St. Pancras Dispensary at 182, Maiden Road. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insured persons. | Uninsured persons. | Total. | Insured persons. | Uninsured persons. | Total. | Insured persons. | Uninsured persons. | Total. | |
| No. of new cases | 86 | 97 | 183 | 231 | 251 | 482 | 18 | 71 | 89 |
| No. found to be suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis | 53 | 33 | 86 | 163 | 98 | 261 | 14 | 18 | 32 |
| Ditto non-pulmonary do. | 2 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 27 | 35 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Ditto non-tuberculous | 6 | 10 | 16 | 10 | 32 | 2 | 18 | 20 | |
| No. in whom diagnosis was found to be doubtful | 25 | 46 | 71 | 50 | 94 | 144 | 1 | 30 | 31 |
| Total attendances | 666 | 669 | 1335 | 711 | 1769 | 2480 | 57 | 551 | 608 |
| No. of above attendances at which physical examinations and records were m de | 165 | 214 | 379 | 360 | 592 | 952 | 26 | 184 | 210 |
| Home visits by Tuberculosis Officer | 2 | 1 | 3 | 50 | 30 | 80 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Ditto by Dispensary Nurse | 118 | 195 | 313 | 181 | 491 | 672 | 131 | 292 | 423 |
| No. of persons referred to the hospital to which this Dispensary is affiliated | 0 | 4 | 4 | 24 | 42 | 66 | 11 | 15 | 26 |
| No. of consultations with Medical Practitioners | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| No. of written reports to:— | |||||||||
| 58 | 55 | 113 | 208 | 187 | 395 | 24 | 36 | 60 | |
| (b) Practitioners | 36 | 26 | 62 | 74 | 30 | 104 | 9 | 17 | 26 |
| No. of Specimens of sputum examined | 40 | 30 | 70 | 46 | 35 | 81 | Included under Oakley Square | ||
Residential Institutions. —Institutional treatment (sanatorium and hospital)
is provided by the London Insurance Committee and the London County
Council, and not by the Borough Council. A very conside able amount of
work is clou by the Borough Medical Officer of Health (as Administrative
Tuberculosis Officer) and the approved dispensaries in selecting suitable cases
for such treatment, and recommending them to these providing authorities,
and also in assisting them in their researches into the after-history of the
cases. This division of responsibility between authorities lea Is to a very
large amount of correspondence and cross-reference which would be avoided
if the administration of all matters concerning tuberculosis patients in the
Borough were in the hands of the Borough Medical Officer of Health including
the selection of cases to be admitted for institutional treatment.
Many tuberculous poor are dealt with by the Guardians in the Infirmaries,
and charitable societies send away a certain number of cases.