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Clinics and Treatment Centres.
The services provided in the district are shown in Appendix Table I.
A report on the work in the diphtheria prevention clinic is given on page 16.
The Council affords facilities to all medical men practising in the district for the
examination of pathological specimens. This work is carried out by the Ministry of Health
Emergency Laboratory.
The following table shows the work done during the year 1944 (including work
done for the Isolation Hospital).
Table A. Positive Negative
Swabs for diphtheria 11 162
Sputa for tubercle 22 79
Faeces 4 9
Other 4 81
41 331
Scabies Clinic
The total number who attended the clinic for treatment of scabies and other skin
conditions during 1944 was 2,251. Details of the cases were as follows :—
Scabies First Visits 370, Re-attendances 819, Total 1189.
Other skin conditions „ „ 142 „ 657 „ 799.
Verminous heads „ „ 193 „ 70 „ 263.
There was a decrease in the attendances at the vermin and scabies clinic during
1944. The reduction in these figures was partly due, however, to the reduced number of
re-attendances for skin conditions other than scabies or verminous infestation and is no
real indication of improvement in the figures for the occurrence of scabies and vermin,
as will be noted by an inspection of the number of first visits.
Many other skin condition cases were referred back for continued treatment to the
school clinics during 1944 as attendances at the scabies clinic resulted in non-attendance
at school, which was not necessary with cases not of an infective nature.
The number of vermin-infested cases attending was more than double, but the
majority of these cases were suffering from a mild attack of infestation and were cleansed
rapidly, resulting in a decrease in the number of re-attendances for this condition also.
Ambulance Service.
During 1944 the ambulance vehicles were stationed at Salisbury Road Civil Defence
Depot, and were manned by the members of the casualty service. Emergency and extra
calls were covered by the use of the Civil Defence ambulances and these became increasingly
necessary as the year went on because of the greater demand from the public for this service.
All users of the civil ambulance service are expected to produce a medical certificate
to justify the free use of the ambulance.
With the reduction of the Civil Defence Casualty Service in the imminent future,
the Borough Council had to consider the provision of civil ambulance facilities as completely
separate from the Casualty Service and from the Fire Service. A tentative scheme for the
provision of sufficient civil ambulance vehicles and staff was proposed. The new arrangements
came into force on the 31st December, 1944.
Details of the work of this service are as follows:—
Poor Law Medical Relief.
The Relieving Officer issued 391 Medical Orders during 1944. Some of these
cases also received outdoor relief or institutional treatment.
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