London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Kensington 1926

The annual report on the health of the Borough for the year1926

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64
In 1920, the Borough was divided into seven areas for the purpose of home visiting in connection
with Maternity and Child Welfare work and a Woman Health Officer was allocated to each of these
districts. When the Council assumed full control of tuberculosis work in the Borough arrangements
were made for the home visiting of tuberculous patients to be undertaken by these Women Health
Officers in their respective areas. These Officers visit the Tuberculosis Dispensary daily for the
purpose of obtaining information as to visits necessary to be paid, and they confer weekly with the
Tuberculosis Officer, when they report to him in regard to the home visits paid in the previous week.
Approximately three-sixteenths of the time of these seven Women Health Officers is devoted
to tuberculosis work.
Dispensary Diagnosis and Treatment.
The adequacy of the scheme adopted by the Council in 1922 for the prevention and treatment
of tuberculosis is evidenced by the fact that after four years of work no material alterations or
additions have been required.

The number of new cases seen at the Dispensary during the year, with the original diagnoses made, is shown in the following table :— New Cases.

Adults.Children under IS yrs.Total.
Males,Females.Males.Females.
Examined for first time205339201196941
New cases with Respiratory Tuberculosis686553141 (14.9 per cent.)
New cases with Non-Respiratory Tuberculosis167923 ( 2.4 „ )
New cases regarded as "Suspects"2640211299 (10.5 „ )
New cases not suffering from Tuberculosis110228168172678 (72.0 „ )

This table is not strictly comparable with similar ones given in my reports for previous years
owing to the altered definition of contact cases (included above in each separate total). This altered
method of expression was prescribed in a Memorandum issued by the Ministry of Health at the end
of the year 1925. There was, however, an increase in the number of respiratory cases and a decrease
in the number of non-respiratory cases.
The "suspect" cases shown above include all cases not diagnosed in the first instance as either
definitely tuberculous or non-tuberculous; to these must be added 45 left on the Dispensary books
at the end of 1925, making a total of 144.
The subsequent disposal of these was as follow :—
Diagnosed subsequently as suffering from respiratory tuberculosis 8
Diagnosed subsequently as suffering from non-respiratory tuberculosis 3
Discharged finally as non-tubercular 92
Discharged finally as having ceased attendance 10
Remaining on books on 31st December, 1926 31
Cases came to the Dispensary of their own accord or were sent up through one of the following
agencies : the Public Health Department of the Council, the Ministry of Pensions, Hospitals, School
Medical Officers, the Kensington Board of Guardians, the Invalid Children's Aid Association, the
Charity Organisation Society and private practitioners.
The treatment recommended for the cases diagnosed at the Dispensary as suffering from
tuberculosis, which numbered 175 (149 pulmonary and 26 non-pulmonary), was as follows:—
Sanatoria, 56; Domiciliary, 40; St. Mary Abbot's Hospital, 18 ; Dispensary, 36; Hospitals, 16;
Kensal House School, 3; Convalescence, 1. No special treatment was required in 5 cases beyond
general advice and instruction to report at the Dispensary if necessary.
The total number of attendances by patients at the Dispensary was 3,517 and 1,915 systematic
physical examinations were made.
The number of home visits by the Tuberculosis Officer was 113, of which 15 were consultations
with the doctor in charge of the case.
Written reports on cases to Public Authorities numbered 1,266 and to doctors, 375.
The total number of sputum examinations was 496 (including 38 specimens sent up by doctors)
fron 416 individual cases. One hundred and forty-two specimens showed tubercle bacilli to be