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52
away for the purpose of prevention when they are
quite healthy. The parents have also to be informed
that the children will be sent, not to a Convalescent
Home, but to a cottage in the country, and that they
will have to remain away for a considerable time.
Another difficulty is the fact that, when the Tuberculosis
Officer broaches the subject to the parents, he is
not in a position to say definitely that the County
Council will accept the child for boarding out. Under
these circumstances, it is not surprising that in the
short space of nine months only ten children have been
boarded out. In most cases the parents have refused
their consent and in a few cases the London County
Council did not think the cases suitable.
The actual boarding out is a matter of some difficulty.
In its initial stage such a scheme is of course much more
difficult to work than it will be later on. It will have
to be developed and simplified before success can be
attained.
We may consider the removal of advanced cases
as one of the front lines of defence and the boarding
out system as a reserve measure. The scheme is a
valuable addition to our defensive measures against
tuberculosis.
Co-ordination between Panel Doctors and
Tuberculosis Officers.
Under the contracts between panel doctors and their
Insurance Committee the doctors agree to submit
periodical reports on the cases of their tuberculous
patients.
This is also laid down in the Tuberculosis (Domiciliary
Treatment in England) Order, 1916, now superseded
by the National Health Insurance (Medical Benefits)
Amendment Regulations, 1921, and amplified in a
circular from the Ministry of Health in December,
1923.