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Renal Dialysis
Kidney failure can be treated either by regular repeated dialysis (clearing
the blood of waste products) or by a kidney transplant. The former method
of treatment is more commonly used, and local authorities are authorised
to carry out works of adaptation at patients' homes under Section 28 of the
National Health Service Act, 1946, as amended by Section 12 of the Health
Service and Public Health Act, 1968.
Home dialysis has advantages over hospital dialysis. It causes less disruption
of the patient's life; a hospital bed is made available for the
treatment of another patient and, most important, it reduces the risk of
infection to the patient himself and to the other patients and staff in
a hospital Dialysis Unit.
During the year, arrangements were made for two patients to dialyse
themselves in their homes. In the first case, adaptations were carried
out for this purpose in hospital-owned property, the hospital bearing a
proportion of the cost. In the second case, use was made of accommodation
that had been adapted for a dialysis patient who had died. The Council
rehoused that patient's family, and the new patient and his family were
rehoused in this specially equipped accommodation.
At the end of the year, arrangements were being made for the adaptation
of a further two homes for dialysis purposes.
West London Hospital - Martha & Luke Clinic Report
In the annual report for 1970 the director of the special clinic wrote
that it would be surprising if a further large increase in the number of
patients attending from year to year was not recorded, and this was borne
out once more in 1971. The total number of cases rose from 11,583 in 1969
to 14,947 in 1970 and in 1971 to 18,898, Male cases rose from 7,645 to
9,635 and 11,374 respectively; female cases 3,938 in 1969; 5,312 and 7,624
respectively. As the department was originally designed to deal with 6,000
new cases per annum and to have staff geared to this requirement, it can
be imagined that this case load has caused a considerable amount of
difficulty; however, due to a grant from the Department of Health and
Social Security, it has been possible to extend the premises and so to
provide better office accommodation and thus free a larger area for
the benefit of patients, though to a certain extent the increasing volume
of patients' records and larger staff required to cope with them and
the reception generally, has had to be off set against this The waiting
room accommodation is also totally inadequate and has let to very serious
overcrowding. It is hoped that soon this may be, at least in part, remedied
by the acquisition of more accommodation
The incidence of early syphilis remained low during the year rising from
134 to 139 cases - 117 males and 22 females; of the males 81.2% had
acquired the infection homosexually.
There was a slight decline in the cases of gonorrhoea, from 3,432 in 1970
to 3,279 in 1971. Of the males 619 (28.2%) cases were homosexually acquired;
there were 2,150 male cases and 1,129 female cases, giving a ratio of
1.35 to 1 (male to female). It is too soon to say whether this slight
decline is merely a temporary phenomena, such as occurred in 1962, or
whether it is due to the results of improved contact tracing, the effects
of the educational campaign mounted in the Hammersmith Borough and also
perhaps to quicker treatment of patients due to the recent vastly improved
labatory facilities, which, it must be most earnestly hoped, will
be maintained.
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