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Dr. Darroch resigned, and Dr connan took her place. A second
part-time Assistant Tuberculosis Officer was not appointed until
1925 In 1923 Dr Connan was appointed as consultant in
tuberculosis to the Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Hospital, and
this provides for much closer co-operation between the hospital
authorities and the Public Health Department.
The next stage in the development of the treatment of tuberculous
patients was the sending of some of them to Leysin,
Switzerland, in July, 1924. Full details of this will be found in
other parts of this Annual Report. The pioneer work of the
treatment of patients by light, in our campaign against tuberculosis,
was the natural sequence of sending patients to Leysin.
This led to an intensive study of light treatment generally, and
it was resolved in 1925 to establish in Bermondsey a Solarium for
the treatment of pre-tuberculous children, cases of ambulant
surgical tuberculosis, and patients who had returned from sanatoria,
and required a certain amount of light treatment to prevent
them relapsing. Fuller details of this will be found in Dr
Connan's report.
It would be rash to say that there has been a decided fall in
tuberculosis during the last five years. A study of the table on
phthisis shows that it has actually fallen, but it is not safe to draw
conclusions on such small numbers as to the permanency of the
decline.
As an example of the dangers of forming premature conclusions
I may mention that we do not find for the first time advanced and
hopeless cases of phthisis, which we formerly did. Partly owing
to the closer co-operation of the dispensary system with the public
health service, and partly owing to the education of the people
themselves, we get hold of cases of phthisis in an earlier stage
than formerly Owing also to the systematic examination of
advanced cases by bacteriological and radiological methods, many
cases which were formerly signed up as deaths from chronic
bronchitis, are now transferred to chronic pulmonary tuberculosis.
It is possible, therefore, that if allowances could be made
in our death returns for all these factors the fall in the incidence
of tuberculosis among the population would be greater than it now
appears