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108
161 cases were admitted to sanatorium or hospital, other than
general hospital, during the year. No case offering a reasonable
hope of cure, or such improvement as will enable the patient to
return to work, is refused admission.
The results of treatment are, on the whole, satisfactory, and a
stage of arrest or quiescence has been acquired in a quite a number
of cases, but the stay in sanatorium is too short in most instances
to effect a cure. To obtain this it is essential that a more prolonged
course of treatment be provided, and the number of beds
available for this purpose, increased. It has been stated that
the introduction of surgical methods in the treatment of pulmonary
tuberculosis has increased the length of stay in hospital or
sanatorium in those cases undergoing such forms of treatment, and
accordingly, reduced the accommodation available for other
cases. While the former statement is undoubtedly true, the
effect on the accommodation must necessarily be very slight, as
only a small proportion of cases of pulmonary tuberculosis are
suitable for Artificial Pneumothorax.
Bethnal Green and Hackney Hospitals admit most of our
advanced patients. I pointed out last year that we had occasionally
experienced difficulty in securing admission in an urgent
case. The shortage of beds still exists and it is to be hoped
that the matter will receive attention before the position becomes
more serious.
In my capacity of tuberculosis consultant, I am able to follow
up our cases admitted to Bethnal Green Hospital I visit the
Hospital weekly and make a routine round of the tuberculosis
wards, supervising treatment generally and selecting cases for
Artificial Pneumothorax, and other special forms of treatment.
I also examine suspected cases of tuberculosis in other wards, thus
helping to secure earlier diagnosis. I would like to take this
opportunity of again thanking the medical Staff of the Hospital
for their unfailing courtesy and willing co-operation.
Thirty-eight of our children were admitted to Stormont
House Open-air School during the year. The school, most
favourably situated on Hackney Downs, has accommodation for
90 scholars, both boys and girls being admitted. With one or
two exceptions all the children come from the Boroughs of
Bethnal Green, Hackney, and Stoke Newington, and are patients
of the Tuberculosis Dispensaries of the Metropolitan and London
Chest Hospitals.
The classes are held in open-air shelters and the children are
kept under strict medical supervision, records of weight and
temperature being kept by the school nurse, while the Medical
Officer makes frequent examination of the scholars, and supervises