London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Camberwell 1913

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Camberwell.

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1-13
Each notified case is visited by me as soon as possible, but delay
sometimes occurs in making the necessary enquiries, for tuberculous
patients undergoing home treatment are often themselves out in the
fresh air. And in those instances where they may have been
removed to institutions, difficulty often arises in finding some one in
the home who is able to give more or less reliable information about
the person who is attacked. If the father has been removed, loss of
income causes the mother to go out to work; if the mother is the
patient there will only be children at home. In either case it often
entails two or three visits, and not infrequently a call in the late
evening or on Sunday is the only- means of getting the proper
information. The following table sets out the number of instances
in which sanitary defects were found at the houses about which we
received notifications:—

Tuberculosis, 1913.

Inspector.Overcrowding.Ordinary.Total.
Intimations.Notices.Intimations.Notices.
H. C. Green118421107
G. G. Morley......331851
H. N. Jones......43649
R. D. Nash1...40849
M. Malins2...35441
W. Eagle21241138
G. W. Scudamore......29837
G. T. Dewey......30232
W. R. Farmer......9...9
J. S. Pointon......718
E. R. Collins......4...4
6233879425

There can be no doubt but that there does exist a considerable
danger of over-inspection. One general hospital, for instance, visits
its patients, who will also be visited by the local Sanitary Authority
and by other agencies, official or otherwise. This cannot but be a
source of irritation, which could only be properly assuaged by substantial
advantages following such inspection, which usually are not
forthcoming.
The total number of notifications received during the year was
2,661; of them 1,925 were of tuberculosis of the lung. Comparison
with previous years would serve no advantage, for the cases now
notified are drawn from a larger class than in previous years. The
ubjoined table gives particulars of the parts of the Borough affected,
classified according to the Sanitary Inspector's district.
So far as the inauguration of a working arrangement between
the Borough Council and the Camberwell Tuberculosis Dispensary
is concerned, there is no substantial progress to report. There were
many meetings between the representatives of the Dispensary and