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This Dispensary is part of a large hospital which is essentially a treatment unit. Most patients
attend with the object of securing treatment and after a positive diagnosis is made, the cases, if
resident in South Kensington and otherwise suitable, are treated on days allotted to Dispensary
work, unless they have been referred by a medical practitioner for diagnosis only.
There has not been any definite attempt to examine "contacts," and only those presenting
themselves on the suggestion of the Assistant Lady Almoner and the Council's Women Health
Officers are dealt with.
Any "suspects" presenting themselves for examination are dealt with as in the case of those
attending at the North Dispensary.
The Assistant Lady Almoner and nurses on the Hospital staff visit the homes of patients on
the Dispensary books; the nurses also perform actual nursing duties in the homes when necessary.
There is, however, no definite system of visiting every Dispensary case at stated intervals.
The Tuberculosis Officer visits patients at home occasionally, four such visits being paid in 1922.
It has been difficult to co-ordinate the work of treatment at a large hospital like Brompton
with the preventive work carried out by the Borough Council and in this respect the arrangements
in South Kensington have not been as satisfactory as those in the northern area.
The Brompton Hospital is a clinical unit established primarily for the treatment of individual
patients and has a reputation second to none in the country; but Local Authorities must look
at tuberculosis chiefly from a preventive point of view, and it cannot be expected that an institution
such as the Brompton Hospital could possibly take a very large share in the preventive aspect of
the work associated with this disease.
After very careful consideration, the Public Health Committee in the Summer of 1922 came to
the conclusion that the task of stamping out tuberculosis in South Kensington suffered from the
curative and preventive work being divorced. As the result, of this conclusion, the Council, with
the approval of the Ministry of Health and the London County Council, informed the Brompton
Hospital Authorities that the present Dispensary arrangement would cease on March 31st, 1923.
From April 1st of the present year, the Dispensary Treatment for the whole of Kensington will
be centred at No. 119. Ladbroke Grove, the address of the North Kensington Dispensary, and the
work of prevention will be carried out by the Council's Officers attached to that institution.
MEDICAL CONSULTATIONS AND X-RAY DIAGNOSIS.
The Ministry of Health and the County Council have signified their approval of an arrangement
by which the Tuberculosis Officer can consult Visiting Specialists at the St. Mary Abbot's
Hospital in Marloes Road; they have also approved of Dispensary patients visiting the Hospital
for the purpose of X-ray diagnosis in difficult cases.
These arrangements were in operation throughout the major portion of 1922. The Board of
Guardians, with their Officers, provided every facility to both the Tuberculosis Officer and myself
and I desire to express our appreciation of the valuable assistance we have received.
DENTAL TREATMENT OF TUBERCULOUS PERSONS.
The efficiency of the Dispensary treatment has been much increased by the arrangement made
by the Council in 1920 for dental treatment, and it is hoped that a recent increase of the number of
hours during which the dentist may be consulted will still further add to the value of the work.
The Council's scheme provides for dental treatment, including the provision of dentures, for
definite and "suspect" cases of tuberculosis under Dispensary treatment in all cases in which the
same is necessary for the efficient treatment of patients likely to make satisfactory recoveries. The
treatment is limited to patients recommended by the Medical Officer of Health.
The Dental Clinic is established on the Dispensary premises at No. 119, Ladbroke Grove.
A Registered Dental Surgeon is employed and is paid by the Council on the basis of work done.
The fees paid to the Dentist were slightly increased in respect of dentures on April 1st, 1922, and
the scale of fees now being paid is as follows:—
(1) Separate extractions. Minimum fee of 2s. 6d.
(2) Separate fillings. Minimum fee of 5s.
(3) Dentures. From £2 5s. for a part set to £4 for a complete set. No charge for
extractions previous to the fitting of dentures.
Extractions and fillings are performed for all patients free of charge, while the cost of the
provision of dentures, together with the financial position of the persons receiving them, is
reported to the Tuberculosis Care Committee who assess and collect payments on behalf of the
Council.

Payments to the dentists during the year amounted to £40 12s. 6d.