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118
Therefore, for the preventive section of the Borough's Dispensary
Scheme, I recommend that two nurses be appointed who
have had not only the usual training of a nurse in a general hospital,
but have also had at least three months' experience in the wards
of a Hospital for Diseases of the Lungs. The salary of such officers
might begin at £80 per annum, rising to a maximum of £100 by
annual increments of £5.
3.—After-Care.
That after-care forms an important factor in the treatment
of Tuberculosis may be gathered from the following extract from
the Report of the London County Council on the "Treatment
of Tuberculosis Scheme for London:"—
"Upon discharge of an adult patient from a Hospital or
Sanatorium due notice shall be given by the Medical Officer
of Health of the County to the Medical Officer of Health of
the Borough, in such patient resides, with a view to securing,
through the staff of the Dispensary, or otherwise, the after-care
of such person. Notice should also be given by the local
Medical Officer of Health to the institution or practitioner under
whose care the patient was before he received residential
treatment."
The object of this after-care is, as far as possible, to ensure
that the patient shall not, after residential treatment, relapse owing
to unsuitable work or surroundings or insufficient nourishment.
This is to be accomplished by bringing to the assistance of the
returning patient advice as to home conditions, advice and help
in obtaining suitable employment and providing sufficient nourishment,
if such is needed.
The maintenance of the improved health obtained by treatment
and residence in a Sanatorium, may largely depend on the assistance
to be derived from the after-care, and every effort should be made
to render this part of the local scheme as complete as possible.