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19
During the year the Public Health Committee took into
their serious consideration the circulars which from time to time
have been issued by the Ministry respecting Cancer, particularly
Circular 716, when it was decided, with the consent of the
Ministry of Health that a Tumour Diagnostic Consultation
should be started, to be held on one evening weekly at the
Tuberculosis Dispensary, Maze Hill, when one of the Council's
Medical Officers should be present with a view to seeing patients
in the first place, writing up the medical histories, etc., whereupon
suitable cases should be seen by Mr. Davies-Colley, C.M.G.,
one of the Surgeons of Guy's Hospital, either at the Consultation
or by special arrangement at the surgeon's own consulting rooms.
This Diagnostic Clinic was opened on October 6th, since
which date to the end of the year, there have been 19 cases
attending for diagnosis.
The chief difficulties we have experienced up to the
present time are, first, the difficulty of sufficiently and appro
priately advertising these facilities, and secondly, the greatest
difficulty of all is overcoming the unwillingness of persons
thinking there is a possibility of their being the subjects of
Cancer in the early stage and definitely having this information
given them—what might be termed "cancerphobia." More
recently we have been able to adopt an improved system of
advertising the clinic and latterly patients have attended in
slightly larger numbers.
I have again been giving serious consideration to this
question, and particularly in view of a paper by Professor
W. Blair Bell, B.S., M.D., London, Professor of Obstetrics
and Gynaecologist, Liverpool, who is distinctly of opinion that
instrumental interference in obstetric practice is a large factor
in predisposing to cancer of the womb in women, and I have
been anxious to devise some means by which this question could
be more thoroughly illustrated in connection with this disease
in Greenwich. Unfortunately, one is met with the particular
difficulty in London of the dual control, and as I am not able
to obtain the necessary assistance from the London County
Council in this matter, I have not been able to pursue the
enquiries which are desired.
I have discussed this matter very thoroughly with our
Maternity and Child Welfare Medical Officer, and his suggestion
is that useful information might be obtained and probably the
harmful practice of unnecessary interference at labour somewhat
restricted, if a fee were offered for the notification by medical
men of every case of labour attended by them when no operative
measures were undertaken by them.