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TUBERCULOSIS
I have received the Annual Report for the year 1950 from the
Chest Physician at the Fulham Chest Clinic (Dr. H.C„ Price). It is
packed with interesting information, including the wide sweep and
development in the work at the Chest Clinic during the year. Dr. Price
has kindly allowed me to quote from his Report.
"GENERAL REVIEW
The year has seen considerable changes in the routine and work
of the clinic. Priority has been given to the treatment of acute cases
of pulmonary tuberculosis, and because of the shortage of staff the follow
up of contacts and investigation of the primary cause of infection in each
notified case has tended to take second place. The most important change
has been the rapid expansion of domiciliary treatment of all types of
pulmonary tuberculosis and the integration of this type of treatment with
In Patient treatment in the "short stay" treatment beds in the tuberculosis
wards in the Western Hospital, Seagrave Road. The careful assessment of
all cases requiring treatment, the early introduction of bed rest at home
and chemotherapy, the correct allocation of priorities to the waiting list
for hospital beds, together with the continuation of home treatment
following discharge from hospital ha? resulted in the reduction of the
sanatorium waiting list by about
However, the number of new notifications coming in, (average
U.3 per week), together with the relapse due to the bad conditions of
living and work existing in the Borough, of patients who have previously
responded satisfactorily to treatment, has resulted in the development of
a waiting list of between 12 and 15 for the existing tuberculosis beds and
has meant the discharge of patients from hospital much sooner than is
desirable. Finally, it is still not possible to maintain one or two beds
for each sex to admit emergency csases either directly from their often
overero jded homes or from the wards of the ether general hospitals
(especially Fulham Hospital) in the area where they are often a danger to
other patients, particularly children. Whilst recognising that some
improvement has been attained in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis
in Fulham, there is still a long way to go before it villi be possible to
provide the optimum treatment for all patients in hospital as the necessity
arises. When this is achieved the problem of tuberculosis .in Fulham, as
far as the treatment side is concerned, will be nearing solution."
In his 194-9 Annual Report Dr. Bennett stated that there were
some 10,000 patients awaiting sanatorium treatment in England & Wales.
It is gratifying that in domiciliary therapy a satisfactory way has been found
of greatly decreasing the sanatoria waiting list.