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LOUISE HOUSE SCREENING CLINIC
A screening service for adult groups in the Borough was started at Louise House,
Dartmouth Road, S.E.23, on 27th July, 1970. On that day one weekly session came
into being, increasing to two sessions per week on 8th September, 1970. An additional
session for men, held on Monday evenings, commenced one month after this.
The screening procedures consist of tests for hearing and vision, height and weight,
urinary and respiratory abnormalities, hypertension and anaemia. The women are
also checked for breast and pelvic abnormalities, and have a cervical smear taken.
The clinic is limited to men aged 40-60 years and women aged 45-65 years.
All clients are invited by a letter from their own family doctor and given an
appointment to attend the clinic. Up to now, all attenders have come from one
group practice in Sydenham and it is arranged that patients of other practitioners
in this area will be contacted in the same way in the near future. The whole success
of the scheme is dependent on close liaison and co-operation between the clinic
staff and the general practitioners, for it is the latter who are responsible for arranging
further investigations or treatment and they are, of course, informed of all the
findings from the clinic. In addition to the willingness of the family doctor concerned
to participate in the screening, both Lewisham Hospital and the Lewisham Chest
Clinic have contributed greatly to the success of this project. Consultant staff at
Lewisham Hospital provided invaluable help and advice in the planning stages and
the staffs of the haematology and cytology departments have carried out all the
necessary tests on blood and cytology samples. The chest physicians at the Lewisham
Chest Clinic agreed most readily to x-ray any attenders who were thought by the
screening clinic to require this examination and they and their staff have proved
most helpful throughout.
During the period 27th July, 1970 to 31st December, 1970, 829 invitations were
sent out, 620 to women and 209 to men. 303 (49 per cent.) women and 108 (51 per
cent.) men attended the clinic in response to their doctor's letter. Of those who
have attended, 112 (31 per cent.) of the women and 51 (47 per cent.) of the men
were found to need further investigation or treatment and were accordingly referred
to one or more of the following:—
1. Family doctor.
2. Chest clinic for chest x-ray.
3. Local authority obesity clinic (for women only at present).
4. Local authority anti-smoking clinic.
The principal reasons for referral differed for men and women. The majority
of male referrals were for raised blood pressure, although a high proportion required
advice for obesity or smoking habits. Twenty-seven men attended for a chest x-ray
because of respiratory symptoms or because they were smokers; a small number of
men were referred for hearing defects, one for a cardiac abnormality and one for
previously undiagnosed diabetes. Female referrals were mainly for obesity; gynaecological
abnormalities and hypertension were detected in a relatively high proportion
of cases and there were also referrals for hearing loss, anaemia, visual defects and
breast abnormalities. One of the 43 women referred for a chest x-ray was found to
have pulmonary tuberculosis.
The response to invitations to attend this clinic has exceeded early expectations
and the results obtained suggest that the service is a valuable means of early detection
and prevention of illness in the age groups selected.
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