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Thirty-eight of the 111 cases attended the Holborn Tuberculosis Dispensary.
The following indicates the reasons for non-attendance in the remaining
cases:—
Removed to Hospitals, etc., for treatment without prior
attendance at Dispensary 22
Out-patients at other Hospitals or Dispensaries 6
Dead before notification or died before attendance at
Dispensary 19
Treatment at. home by private doctor 5
Not traced 6
Removed from Borough 15
73
, Delayed Notification.
The Public Health (Tuberculosis) Regulations, 1912, require notification within
48 hours of the medical practitioner first becoming aware that the person is
suffering from tuberculosis. It is still found that medical practitioners do not
notify cases of this disease until tubercle bacilli have been found in the sputum
and in a number of cases notifications are not received until the death of the
patient or shortly before death takes place. In the past year twelve cases were
notified only at death, seven within one month of death, three within three months
and three within six months of death. Eight of the cases notified at death died in
hospital.
It is unfortunate that by a proviso in the Regulations of 1912, a medical
practitioner is not required to notify a case of tuberculosis if he has reasonable
grounds for believing that the case has already been notified. It would seem that
any disadvantage accruing from duplication would be easily outweighed by the
advantage of the additional encouragement to promote early notification which
would ensue from the withdrawal of this proviso from the Regulations.
The Regulations also require notification of the admission and discharge of
patients to poor law institutions and sanatoria.
Institutional Treatment.
During the year notifications were received of 101 admissions to institutions.
These admissions represent 76 patients, some of whom are transferred from one
institution to another, and others are discharged, or take their own discharge,
and subsequently are re-admitted.
The 101 admissions were to the following institutions:—
Poor Law Institutions 47
Institutions of the Metropolitan Asylums Board 31
Other Institutions 23
Twenty-five of these admissions were transfers from one institution to another
or re-admissions.
Visits to Homes, etc.
During 1927 the Tuberculosis Officer made 65 visits to the homes of patients,
The general visitation of the patients and supervision of home conditions is carried
out by the Tuberculosis Nurses who made 1.165 visits,