View report page

TUBERCULOSIS.
Between 1911 and 1921 the work of the Tuberculosis Dispensary
was carried on by a voluntary body known as the Central
Fund for the Provision of Tuberculosis Dispensaries in the Metropolis.
The dispensary did most excellent work under their
auspices, but in 1921 it was felt that its work could be better
co-ordinated with the other public health work of the Borough
if the Dispensary was made a municipal one, and this was done
in April of that year. After this event considerable changes were
made in both the work and the administration of the Dispensary.
Partly owing to the lines on which it was started, and its voluntary
nature, the Dispensary gradually came to be looked upon
as a kind of out-patients' department for all kinds of diseases of
the chest. Sufferers from bronchitis, asthma, and many other
diseases of a non-tuberculous nature were constantly being
treated, the result being that the records became overloaded with
all sorts of cases, and it was therefore, most difficult to trace the
history of any particular tuberculous patient, owing to the enormous
number of records which had'accumulated. One of the first
things, therefore, was to go through these old records, which
numbered over 7,000, and gradually eliminate from them all
deaths and all diseases which were not of a tubercular nature, and
so bring the old records up-to-date. Patients were also prohibited
from earning up at irregular times to see the doctor, and a, system
of consultation by appointment was substituted. These changes
tended, not only to the lightening of the work of the Dispensary,,
but greatly improved its efficiency. It was primarily intended as
a clearing house and consultation centre for patients suffering
from tuberculosis, and the clearing away of all this overgrowth,
has made the work of attending to patients with tuberculosis
much more satisfactory. Treatment by the dispensary, m the
ordinary sense, is of secondary consideration now, and is only
undertaken if it is of a special nature, such as that which involves,
the use of remedies like tuberculin or ultra-violet rays. On
taking over the voluntary dispensary, Dr. Margaret B. S. Darroch
was the Medical Officer, and Dr. D. M. Connan, the Assistant
Medical Officer. Shortly after our taking over the Dispensary.