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38
This table shews that 144 patients were sent to residential
institutions and 22 were boarded out in the country. The
agencies who undertook the responsibility for this treatment
were the London Insurance Committee, London County
Council in a few cases, Guardians, the Charity Organisation
Society and the Invalid Children's Aid Association.
It is now an easier matter to obtain Sanatorium treatment
for early cases either through the London Insurance
Committee or the London County Council. The Insurance
Committee also sends a considerable number of more
advanced cases to hospitals but cannot retain them indefinitely
in these Institutions. Hospital accommodation is urgently
needed for advanced cases. This should be made attractive
so as to induce patients to remain for long periods, and be
placed locally in or near each Borough in order to allow of
frequent visitation by friends. London possesses neither
Hospitals for advanced cases nor Farm Colonies; the result
is that advanced cases are mostly treated at home, or
fluctuate between the Infirmaries and their own homes, and
that certain cases discharged from Sanatoria are liable to
drift into the advanced stage of the disease.
Home Visiting.
During the year 2,385 visits were made by the Doctors
and 2,747 by the Nurses, It is the rule for all new tuberculous
cases to be visited by a Doctor and a Nurse, and for
the other persons living in the home to be examined as
contacts.
The home visiting is the most important and the most
pleasant part of the Dispensary duties. The Nurses visit
the various streets in rotation, and the visits are recorded in
a register in which the streets are arranged alphabetically;
this has greatly facilitated the work. All notified cases are
visited regularly by the nurses and infectious cases are