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City of London Hospitals, is not favourable, and personally I have
ceased to use it, and 1 fear that our armamentarium against tuberculosis
has not been increased, as we hoped, on its introduction.
In the past year three cases have occupied the two beds at
Northwood, and I have taken four into the City of London Hospital.
11 have been taken as in-patients at the Hampstead General
Hospital and 24 to the Out-patient Department of that Hospital,
36 X-Rays have been taken, 14 cases have been admitted to New End
Hospital.
66 cases have been sent by 40 Doctors, for advice or treatment,
and 12 consultations with doctors, at the patients' homes, have been
held.
It will be noticed that the total attendances at the Dispensary are
less. This is due to the desire of the L.C.C. that cases should not be
watched for prolonged periods, but it will also be seen that systematic
examinations have increased, the proportion being 991 to 1534
attendances.
Cases have been removed to sanatorium or hospital by the L.C.C.
without undue waiting, and they have very kindly made special
arrangements for several patients, at my request.
The Sociological aspect of tuberculosis remains a problem of the
greatest import. Conditions in London are changing. Large houses
are being broken into fiats and converted into boarding-houses and
small hotels. It would appear that, as in New York, the number of
inhabitants living in boarding-houses and hotels will steadily increase.
In the cheaper type of house, and even in the more expensive
ones, on occasions, many difficulties are raised from the Public Health
point of view. Obvious difficulties in regard to notification and
disinfection, while the advanced case is turned out and has nowhere to
go to. This problem is too large to be more than touched upon.
Next, we are commencing to suffer from our intensive campaign
as to the infectivity of tuberculosis. The employer of labour will not
have a tuberculous man. His fellow-workmen shun him The lodginghouse
keeper wont take him in. In fact, there is every excuse for him
concealing the fact until the disease is too advanced to do anything for
him.