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47
The body was brought to the City Mortuary from St. Bartholomew's
Hospital, special precautions being taken to prevent the spread of infection.
Although not belonging to the City, the admission of the body (which
was the nearest one to the Hospital) was permitted in the interests of the
public health, the man's residence being at Mile End.
These facts were at once communicated to the Medical Officers of Health
for the district in which the patient resided, and for the district where he
worked, respectively.
MIDWIVES ACT, 1902.
In September last the Sanitary Committee had under consideration a letter
received from the London County Council on the subject of the administration
of the Midwives Act, 1902.
The London County Council asked in the letter referred to, if the Corporation
had any objection to the use of their disinfecting premises and apparatus
for disinfection of clothing of midwives who had been in attendance on cases
of Puerperal Fever or other illnesses supposed to be infectious, and noted
that under Section 5 of the rules framed by the Central Midwives Board, such
clothing must be disinfected to the satisfaction of the Local Sanitary
Authority. Your Medical Officer pointed out that the question arose, what
was meant by the term "Local Sanitary Authority" in these rules, it not
being clear whether it was intended to apply to the Authority for the
district in which the patient or the midwife resided.
Puerperal Fever being a dangerous infectious disease, as scheduled in the
Public Health (London) Act, 1891, under Section 59(1) of that Act the
Corporation are compelled to remove, disinfect, and return free of charge, any
clothing or articles infected with this disease or likely to retain such infection.
This duty is therefore imperative, and the Corporation has no option in the
matter in cases where the infected clothing belongs to a resident.
At the time of the last Imperial Census there were no midwives resident in
the City of London. This indicates that lying-in women in the City, when
attended by a midwife, engage them from outside districts. It may further
be noted that in the ten years 1894-1903, only seven cases of Puerperal
Fever occurred amongst residents in the City. It is evident, therefore, that
we shall be seldom called upon to carry out the duty referred to above.
"RETURNED" CASES OF SCARLET FEVER.
In July last the Sanitary Committee had under consideration a communication
received from the Clerk to the Metropolitan Asylums Board, drawing
attention to the fact that the Poplar Borough Council had issued a circular
letter with reference to the alleged premature discharge of a patient from one
of the Board's Hospitals.