View report page

42
there was no pressure on the accommodation
provided.
As regards the precautions taken prior to
discharge of patients from the Board's hospitals, the
Committee say, "we are of opinion that every
reasonable precaution in the matter of personal
ablution and disinfection has hitherto been taken to
obviate the possibility of any patient being discharged
whilst in a state of infection." It may be
remarked that the South-Western and Fountain
Hospitals are the only two at which any mention is
made of a discharge ward on the "three room"
system, i.e., having two dressing-rooms, one infected,
and one infection-free, separated by a bathroom.
Other hospitals may be provided with such
accommodation, but if they are, there should have
been some mention made of the provision. The
"three room" discharge ward constitutes the safest
outlet for patients from an infectious hospital.
Lastly, the Committee call attention to the fact
that in certain instances the local authorities rely on
dry heat for disinfection, which, except at temperatures
which are destructive to most articles, is a
very unsafe process, and that in other cases the
work of disinfection is done by contractors, not by
the authorities.
The Committee's conclusions are as follows:—
(o.) That there is no evidence to show that any appreciable number
of patients admitted to the Board's hospitals during the past two years
have contracted infection from patients previously discharged