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CHEST CLINIC, DEPTFORD
I am indebted to Dr. J. P. V. Rigby for the following report concerning the Chest
Clinic at Harton Street, of which he is consultant physician.
The first ever tuberculosis dispensary was started by Sir Robert Philip in Edinburgh
in 1912. Deptford had its first tuberculosis dispensary in 1913, not on these premises,
but in Amersham Road, S.E.14. In 1936 the Deptford Tuberculosis dispensary
was moved to Harton Street, occupying the rear of the premises. The front part
was occupied originally by an ante-natal clinic and later by a foot clinic.
At the end of 1948 I was appointed physician to the clinic. The backlog of work
was enormous, as the clinic had had no regular physician for eight months. By 1950
I had got a major x-ray unit installed in the rear of the clinic and the foot clinic
had moved elsewhere. I installed myself in the front part of these premises, which
were then known as the Deptford Chest Clinic. The long battle against tuberculosis
which ensued meant a very great deal of work. There is still tuberculosis in the
nearby common lodging house, Carrington House, and to some extent in the local
population. The main work now is with chronic bronchitis and with the diagnosis
and treatment of cancer of the lung. The work load is heavy and exceeds that of the
total medical out-patients, either in the Miller Hospital or the Greenwich District
Hospital, according to annual figures.
Moving the clinic now, either to the Greenwich District Hospital or to the Miller
Hospital, would be a formidable task, and in terms of actual money saved, probably
not worthwhile. Storage of records and x-rays alone would present big problems.
The difficulties over pathology tests could be got over, in my opinion. It would be
preferable to stay working on the present site for very many reasons, chief of which
is that the clinic is central for the patients.
I am not enamoured of the idea to move Grove Park Hospital to the Miller
Hospital. I think the country surroundings at Grove Park contribute to the cure
of my chest patients. Neither wings of the Greenwich District Hospital can be said
to be in country surroundings.
During 1969 the new cases of tuberculosis were 39 in number, making a total
of 927 on the tuberculosis register. The steady trickle of new tuberculosis cases
continues, but is less than in previous years. The new cases consist of 29 males,
5 females over fifteen years and 5 children. This drop in numbers has been mainly
in the females. Twelve of the cases were bacteriologically proved and had mycobacterium
tuberculosis in the sputum, and 11 of these were males. In all, 20 cases
on the Deptford Chest Clinic Tuberculosis Register had positive sputum during
the year.
The work load in 1969 was again heavy, with 6,138 total attenders, of which 1446
were new patients to the clinic. This was even more than in 1968. All these patients
received clinical examination with x-ray and pathological tests as necessary. The
great majority of the new cases were seen by the consultant physician.
B.C.G. vaccination was given to 131 persons, mostly tuberculosis contacts, and
some tuberculin negative adults. The two tuberculosis visitors did 3,228 successful
and 1,007 unsuccessful visits to homes in the area, mainly in the follow up of tuberculosis
families and their contacts. Unsuccessful visits imply a call at a house where
no reply was received.
The medical work at the clinic is shared between the physician and the assistant
physician. The physician does five clinical sessions and the assistant four. The
physician, who works full time, spends the remaining time reading literally hundreds
of chest x-rays and dictating reports to private doctors who send the cases to the
clinic. Visits are also made to nearby hospitals, mainly Grove Park Hospital, Greenwich
District Hospital (formerly St. Alfege's) and the Miller General Hospital.
Patients are also visited at home, usually at the request of general practitioners.
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