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through their officers are required to furnish to Medical Officers of Health the following information
in respect to consumptive persons in receipt of relief, namely:—
1. On form A the addresses from which consumptive persons have been admitted to the
infirmary.
2. On form C the addresses to which consumptive persons go on their discharge from the
infirmary.
3. On form B the addresses of consumptives who are being attended in their homes by
the District Medical Officer, and
4. On form D any change of address by a poor person who has been previously certified
as suffering from consumption.
Tuberculosis Regulations (Hospitals).—The Public Health (Tuberculosis in Hospitals)
Regulations, 1911, came into force on May 1st, 1911. Broadly speaking they extend the system of
the compulsory notification of phthisis to consumptive persons receiving medical treatment whether
as out-patients or in-patients in any hospital, dispensary, or similar institution for the treatment of
tne sick which is not wholly supported by the contributions of the patients themselves. Poor Law
institutions are excluded because they are already subject to the Regulations of 1908.
Tuberculosis Regulations, 1911.—The Public Health (Tuberculosis Regulations, 1911),
complete the system of compulsory notification, and came into force on January 1st, 1912. They
extend compulsory notification from "poor persons" and hospital patients to the patients of private
medical practitioners. At the time of writing, with the hospital and poor law regulations, they
have been superseded by a consolidating Order which applies to every class of patient, and for
this reason need not be described in detail.
Action Authorised.—Each Order that has been issued has authorised the following
measures:—
For the purpose of preventing the spread of infection from pulmonary Tuberculosis,
sanitary authorities are empowered to disinfect rooms, to disinfect or destroy infected articles,
and to provide sputum bottles and disinfectants for the private use of consumptives in their
homes. They are also authorised to afford such "facilities" and to supply such "articles"
as will diminish the risk of infection arising from the use of any room which is occupied by
a poor consumptive as a sleeping apartment. Upon the receipt ot a notification the regulations
require the Medical Officer of Health, or an Officer acting under his instructions, to make such
inquiries and take such steps as may be desirable for preventing the spread of infection and
removing conditions favourable to infection. The Council are also authorised to assist in the
detection of consumption by arranging for the bacteriological examination of sputum free of
charge at the expense of the rates.
National Insurance Act-This Act came into operation on July 15th, 1912, and by
is 8 (b) provides at the expense of the insurance funds for the treatment in sanatoria or other
institutions or otherwise of insured persons suffering from consumption or any other form of
tuberculosis. Section 16 makes the annual sum of one shilling and threepence in respect of each
insured person in any given county available for defraying the cost of treatment, with an additional
sum of one penny per head, which may be used for the purposes of research. Section 17 authorises
under certain conditions the extension of sanatorium benefit to the dependents of insured persons.
If this is done and the sums available out of the insurance funds are not sufficient to meet the
cost of treatment, the deficit may be made good in equal shares by the County Council and the
Treasury.
It is important to note that sanatorium benefit does not, as is frequently supposed, necessarily
mean admission to a sanatorium, and may be conferred on an insured person in the form of
treatment at home or at a tuberculosis dispensary, or by any other method that may be suited
tc the medical needs of the patient.
At the request of the Insurance Committee, forms of application for sanatorium benefit have
been kept at the Town Hall, where they have been supplied to insured persons. The work of the
department has been materially increased by correspondence in connection with insured consumptives,
and by visits to their homes for the purpose of giving advice which cannot be withheld
by a department which has undertaken to assist notified consumptives of every class. Much time
has also been spent in the preparation of reports and in conferences with the Tuberculosis