Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
The annual report on the health, sanitary condition, &c., &c., of the Parish of St. Mary Abbotts, Kensington for the year 1893
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2,813, the admissions to hospital 2,376, and the deaths 206.
We might reasonably hope for a continuance of the practical
immunity so long enjoyed—provided the vaccination laws
were efficiently administered—as a result of compulsory notification,
which has worked admirably and was the means of
preserving London from an epidemic in 1892 and again in
1893. The practice of taking the sick out of London for
isolation and treatment, carried out of late years in accordance
with the recommendation I made in 1881, has also been
attended with the best results, and still further encourages the
belief that London will not again suffer from small-pox as in
1871, or even as in 1881, when the admissions were 8,551, and
the deaths 2,367. I expressed the opinion last year that it
was probable that the accommodation provided by the
Managers for this disease, amounting to 1,100 beds, viz., 300
on the Hospital Ships, and 800 at the Gore Farm, Darenth,
would probably suffice. At the same time I urged the provision
of an additional Convalescent Hospital, which could
be used for " Fever" when not required for Small-pox.
Leaving for the moment further consideration of the
question of hospital accommodation for small-pox, I proceed
to state what the Asylums Board have done since the date
of my last report, to supply the needs of the metropolis in
respect of accommodation for "Fever" and diphtheria. In
January, 1893, the Managers approved generally a report by
the General Purposes Committee, which stated that "besides
extra Convalescent Accommodation, sites for three additional
Acute Fever Hospitals, one in the North and two in the
South of London, each with permanent accommodation for
not less than 400 patients, should be provided without further
delay." The first step taken by the Managers in giving effect
to this recommendation was the adoption of a resolution, to the
effect that, " subject to the approval of the Local Government
Board, the Tooting Lodge Estate " (adjacent to Tooting Bee