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The Board of Guardians.—The importance of the work done by the Board of Guardians
in removing advanced and highly infectious cases of consumption to the Infirmary, cannot be overestimated.
Wards are set apart with accommodation for some 60 consumptives, and from the
rectifications received it would appear that 183 phthisical patients were admitted from homes in
Kensington during the year. That many of this number were in the last stages of the disease may
be inferred from the fact that 73 died of phthisis in the Infirmary. Returns as to the average
curation of stay in the Infirmary are not available; but the notifications show that 19 patients
were admitted twice during the year, whilst four consumptives entered and left the Infirmary on no
less than three occasions. In the absence of compulsory powers of detention, some patients stay
only a few weeks; others remain for many months, with the result that the Guardians may on the
whole be said to succeed in securing the isolation of considerable numbers of infectious patients
during substantial periods of time.
The Tuberculosis Dispensary.—The Tuberculosis Dispensary at 20, Talbot Road, in the
Borough of Paddington, and close to the poorer neighbourhoods of North Kensington, has now
received Kensington patients from the northern half of the Borough during the whole of the years
1911 and 1912. The institution is conducted on the now familiar lines of its prototype in Edinburgh,
and is entirely supported by voluntary contributions. The Medical Officer of Health for Paddington
is the chairman of the Committee of Management, which includes in its numbers members of the
Kensington Borough Council and Board of Guardians, and the Council's Medical Officer of Health.
Persons receiving treatment attend as out-patients, but the fundamental difference between the
Dispensary and the ordinary out-patient department of a special hospital for consumption lies in
the fact that after the first attendance the patient is visited in his home by one of the Dispensary
medical officers, who advises on the spot as to the means to be adopted for giving practical effect
to his recommendations as to open-air treatment and the prevention of infection. The second
object of the visit is the examination of members of the patient's family for signs of incipient or
advanced consumption. The visit of the doctor is then followed by a visit from the Dispensary
nurse, who gives further assistance to the patient in following the advice he has received.
Sanatorium treatment is provided on a limited scale, efforts are made to persuade advanced cases
to enter the Infirmary, and the various needs of the patients are, so far as possible, met by a system
cf close co-operation with appropriate charitable agencies. In the space available it is impossible
to give an adequate description of the work of the Dispensary, and for further details reference
should be made to the Report of the Dispensary Medical Officer for the year 1912, which will
shortly be published.
During the year 1911, 470 consumptive persons residing in North Kensington received
treatment at the Dispensary; the notifications of persons suffering from consumption received
during the whole of the year 1912 amounted to 508.
Special Provision by the Council.— Eight new beds provided at the Council's expense
have been lent to consumptive persons for the purpose of preventing the spread of infection, and
two lent last year were returned, after removal of the patient, and after disinfection lent again.
The circumstances of out-patients to whom beds were lent, were as follows:—
Case 1. G. B., a lad aged 18 was found sleeping with two brothers. A second bed provided
March 20th.
Case 2. W. V., a boy, aged 9, sleeping with father and brother. A second bed provided
March 20th.
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Case 3. E. Y., aged 33, sleeping with husband and child. A second bed provided March 21st.
Case 4. M. F., sleeping with husband and child. A second bed provided April 30th.
Case 5. A. B., sleeping with husband and child. A second bed provided May 14th.
Case 6. M. C., sleeping with husband and two children. A second bed provided July 4th.
Case 7. A. S., sleeping with husband. Very advanced case. A second bed provided
November 4th. Patient died and bed was returned December 12th.
Case 8. A. C., sleeping with two others. A second bed provided November 11th.
Case 9. E. M., sleeping with husband and child. A second bed provided November 27th.
Case 10. G. L., sleeping with husband. An advanced case. A second bed provided
December 18th.
Open-air Shelters.—Three open-air shelters have been provided by the Council, and a
small number have been supplied by the Tuberculosis Dispensary. At the end of the year all the
Council's shelters had been returned, and experience in London and other large towns has shown