London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Hackney 1920
Report on the sanitary condition of the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney for the year 1920
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47
After Care.—Practically no steps have been taken as regards
after-care of tuberculous patients returned from sanatorium with
the exception of the steps taken by the Hackney and Stoke
Newington Care Committee in the direction of imploring the
assistance of voluntary and charitable organisations, as the
machinery and means for providing adequately for necessary
expenditure does not exist.
Much useful work as regards arranging sanatorium treatment
and collecting payments from the parents of children granted
sanatorium treatment by the London County Council has been
carried by the Committee, which is thoroughly in touch with the
tuberculosis work of the Borough.
Advanced Cases.—The following table shows the place of death of Hackney inhabitants, and it is apparent from this table what a large proportion of deaths occur in the patients' homes.
| Place where death occurred. | Phthisis and Pulmonary Tuberculosis. | Other forms of Tuberculosis. | Totals. |
|---|---|---|---|
| At Patient's Homes | 90 | 21 | 1ll |
| At Hackney Infirmary | 37 | 22 | 59 |
| At other Institutions | 63 | 16 | 79 |
| 190 | 59 | 249 |
It should be remembered that the deaths which occur in
institutions cannot be considered to represent a number of persons
who were prevented while in an advanced stage from spreading
infection, as, at least, the majority of these persons have been
treated on several occasions in the Infirmary and similar institutions,
entering and leaving while in an infective condition, before death
occurred. The result of this is placed on record in the Final
Report of the Departmental Committee on Tuberculosis: