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none the less been able to train up a strong band of After-Care visitors.
There is room still for more work at the Dispensary, and this will be
forthcoming, I believe, once the medical men in practice notify their
cases as required by the Tuberculosis Regulations. Medical officers
hesitate to draw their Council's attention to this general failure of
medical men to notify cases of Tuberculosis, partly because of the
happy relations which subsist between the Medical Officer of Health
and his brethren in practice. There are reasons which practitioners
advance for their omissions, but the law of the land is clear on the point,
and their failure in notifying is just as serious a matter as the concealment
of the facts—for the sake of peace—by any Medical Officer of
Health. A statement of the work for the year is embodied herein,
thanks to Dr. Donnelly.
There is one machine which I am studying for the moment and
which is peculiar to London; I refer to the vast network of ameliorative
agencies, which covers the whole Metropolis. A mere glimpse at
these gladdens the heart. How is it possible for a man to be other
than an optimist when he tries to understand this massed band of help?
It is a course of study in itself, and no public worker is fully equipped
unless and until he is au fait with the hospitals, the Guardians, the
Red Cross, War Pensions Comnittees, Invalid Childrens' Aid Association,
Charity Organisation Society, Cripples' Guild, etc. These are
channels through which many pass yearly to a happier dawn and a
fuller life.
Here in Deptford, then, is a man's work to do. With the support
of a loyal and willing staff of workers, and the encouragement and
guidance of an earnest Council, let us see whether we can bring more
sunshine into the lives of others.
Your obedient Servant,
Charles S. Thomson,
Medical Officer of Health.