View report page

14
CORONER'S COURT AND PUBLIC MORTUARY.
During the year new refrigerating equipment was installed
and the Mortuary was closed for a short time whilst this work
was in progress. Consequently there was a slight reduction
in the total amount of work done. The Mortuary is in use
by the Boroughs of Chelsea, Fulham and Hammersmith ;
in addition the Coroner's Court was used for inquests on
persons dying in the Royal Borough of Kensington.
TUBERCULOSIS.
The number of new cases has fallen to the 1948 total and
in general the incidence of the disease has not varied very
much during that period. The sum total of the two factors,
of course, means that there are more cases in the Borough
and there has been a steady rise since the immediate post-war
period, when the total was 859 as opposed to the present
figure of 1,779. This means that whilst the outlook to the
individual sufferer is improved, the risk to the healthy person
is increased, and so it is more important than ever that special
attention should be paid to the environment of every case
to ensure the greatest possible degree of preventive attention.
MASS RADIOGRAPHY.
Arrangements were again made for a Mass Radiography
Campaign in the Borough during the year in conjunction with
the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospitals Board.
The scheme enables large groups of persons to have their
chests X-rayed, the object being, of course, to detect anything abnormal and, in particular, to discover cases of early
Tuberculosis.
The Unit was established at Olympia for five days during
the month of August for the purpose of conducting the
X-ray examinations. A number of industrial undertakings in
the Borough were invited to allow their employees to undergo
examination by the Unit and certain sessions were reserved
for examination of the general public.
The scheme was advertised to the public in the local press,
by means of posters and handbills and slides were shown at
four of the largest cinemas in the Borough.