View report page

54
aimed at—so that this measure must be regarded as introductory
to supplementary measures. These should in my opinion consist
of the following:—
(1) The temporary appointment of two or more qualified
assistants to the present Health Visitor. These should be
retained for the three months during which the disease is
prevalent. Their duties would be to visit the home of each
case to ascertain if the patient is under proper medical treatment
; to ascertain if the case is so treated at home as to
prevent the sick child from infecting other healthy persons;
to ascertain the home condition as to whether there is any
suspicious cause operating to cause the disease. On this
report, if necessary, inspection would be sent to make a
thorough inspection of the dwelling and its environment.
Proper advice on feeding and the care of infants and young
children would also be given.
(2) Arrangements should be made with local hospitals and
dispensaries to treat such cases as cannot afford to call in a
private practitioner. Arrangements should also be made with
hospitals including the Infirmary and Metropolitan Asylums
Board to receive such cases as, from poverty and inadequate
accommodation, cannot with safety be treated at home.
(3) Suspension of the ordinary procedure by which it is
necessary for the relieving officer to make enquiries before
medical relief can be afforded. This suggestion is made to
enable medical advice and treatment to come to the patient
without unnecessary delay.
(4) If necessary the redrafting of the conditions of the
Dusting and Slopping Contracts so as to enable the local
authority to call for a more frequent removal of house refuse
and street refuse (if necessary confining these revised conditions
to specified areas). The present rule is for house
refuse to be removed at least once a week from occupied
houses ; and refuse from streets to be removed in certain
streets once and in others twice or more times in the week.