London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Finsbury 1937

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Finsbury Borough]

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171
Cases Recovered or Non-Tuberculous.
It will be noted that 22 cases were written off the Dispensary
Register as "recovered" and 289 for other reasons. This
latter number includes Contacts and New Patients examined last
year.
Special features of the work undertaken in connection with
the Municipal Dispensary may be summarised as follows:—
X-Ray Facilities.
It has so far proved impracticable to instal an X-Ray plant
in the dispensary on account of the insufficiency of the accommodation
available.
This method of examination is, however, very frequently
absolutely essential in order to arrive at a certain diagnosis at
an early stage, to control accurately the progress of a case or to
exclude the presence of the disease where other examinations
point to the possibility of its presence. The earliest signs of the
disease are a change in the X-Ray appearances and may be missed
altogether if not sought for in this way. The proper line of treatment
may often only be discoverable before it is too late by carefully
watching the extent, character, and changes in the X-Ray shadows.
And again a number of cases whose symptoms suggest the presence
of the disease may be relieved of much worry and the local authority
relieved of expense on their behalf by an assurance which can only
be given after an X-Ray that there is no evidence of tuberculosis.
For example, hæmorrhage from the lung occurs in some cases of
tuberculosis but also in some other diseases both of the heart and
lung and without X-Ray examination it is inevitable that certain
of the latter cases would be falsely diagnosed as suffering from
phthisis.
Arrangements are in operation for X-Ray examinations where
required at University College Hospital. The Tuberculosis Officer
attends personally the University College Hospital two or three
times each month and himself screens the patients. A charge of
2s. 6d. is made for each case, together with a further charge
of 2s. 6d. for each photograph taken. These arrangements have
proved reasonably satisfactory, but the work would be rendered
more efficient if the Dispensary were equipped with an X-Ray
installation. It is impossible at present to arrange for evening
X-Ray work, and it is, therefore, very difficult to arrange for