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These Regulations, which revoke those referred to above, provide for the compulsory
notification of all cases of Tuberculosis, and this extension from Pulmonary
Tuberculosis only, constitutes the most important amendment. The Board in framing
the Regulations have kept in mind the advisability of simplifying the existing machinery
of notification, and the procedure now provides for all the principal contingencies on
a uniform plan.
Every medical practitioner (unless acting as a School Medical Inspector) is by
Article V. (unless he has reasonable grounds for believing that the case has been
previously notified) required within 48 hours of his first becoming aware that any
person on whom he is attending, whether at an Institution or otherwise, is suffering
from Tuberculosis, to make and sign a Primary notification of the case on Form A
(see Appendix F), and shall transmit such notification to the Medical Officer of Health
for the District within which the place of residence of the person is situate at the date
of notification.
Article VI. requires any School Medical Inspector to notify on Form B (see
Appendix G) all cases of Tuberculosis which come under his notice in the course of
inspection held at Public Elementary Schools.
For the purposes of this Article it is immaterial whether a case has been previously
notified by some other medical practitioner or not, but a School Medical Inspector
shall not be required to notify any case previously notified by himself.
The Form of Notification is to be forwarded to the Medical Officer of Health for
the District in which the child lives at the end of each week.
Article VII. requires that as soon as practicable after the end of each week the
Medical Officer of a Poor Law Institution or of a Sanatorium shall send to the
Medical Officer for the District in which the persons notified reside—
(a) A list on Form C (see Appendix H) of all cases of Tuberculosis
admitted to the Poor Law Institution or Sanatorium during the week, and not
being cases previously notified under Article V.
(b) A list on Form D (see Appendix I) of all cases of Tuberculosis
discharged from the Poor Law Institution and Sanatorium during the week.
In regard to the indications by which a medical practitioner is to assume a person
to be suffering from Tuberculosis, it. is distinctly laid down that notification is to be
made on the strength of evidence other than that derived solely from Tuberculin
tests.
I may here point out that the duty of transmitting the notifications to the
Medical Officer of Health for the district in which the patient resides is now thrown
upon the medical practitioner notifying. The repealed Regulations were complied with
if the notification was addressed to the Medical Officer of Health of the district in
which the Hospital, Poor Law Institution or Sanatorium was situated, leaving it to the
Officers of the Local Authority to re-direct it and inform the notifying medical
practitioner accordingly.