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47
removed to the Metropolitan Asylums Board Hospital, eventually
made good recoveries. In fact the infected cases retained in hospital
after it was closed pursued a normal course, and all were discharged
before the period of closure had elapsed.
There is, I think, no doubt, however, that the earlier infection
of October and November which had subsided during November
had never entirely cleared up, and the recrudescence in January
and February was probably assisted by the increased number of
patients admitted in that month and the early part of February, and
by the consequent pressure on the staff and the lack of adequate
isolation provision at the Hospital.
The attention of the Council had been drawn inter alia to this
lack of adequate isolation accommodation, and the Council had
been for some considerable time in negotiation with the Ministry
of Health for an extension of the Hospital buildings. Unfortunately
the plans for the new addition had to undergo considerable modification
at the request of the Ministry for economic reasons. Delay,
therefore, arose in the erection of the new extension. It was pointed
out by the Council that, owing to the great increase in the past three
or four years in the number of patients admitted to the Hospital
annually, it was very important that this provision, amongst other
necessary measures, was imperative, and in the light of the lesson
learned it is regrettable that their earlier proposals were not accepted
by the Ministry, leading to serious delay in relieving the pressure
on the Hospital accommodation and the staff.
A full report was submitted to the Maternity and Child Welfare
Committee by the Medical Officer of Health, in which, after recounting
the steps which had been taken to deal with the outbreak it was
recommended that the opportunity should be taken to thoroughly
overhaul, cleanse and redecorate the Hospital buildings during the
period of closure, and to stop the admission of cases living outside
the Borough until the pressing need of additional isolation accommodation
was met. The Committee agreed to this and the work of
redecoration, etc., was put in hand forthwith. On the 17th March
the work had been completed and all patients in hospital had been
evacuated or discharged before that date and the hospital was
re-opened for the admission of patients.
The work on the extension of the Maternity Hospital was
commenced on the 16th August, 1929, and was pressed forward
rapidly. It was not, however, carried out to the full plan originally
approved, for reasons already stated.
The new building is of two stories, the lower being devoted
entirely to the Out-Patients Ante-Natal Department. This floor
contains Waiting Room, Consultant's Room, Examination Room,
etc.