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26
The Borough Tuberculosis Care Committee.

The Medical Officer of Health continued to act as Honorary Secretary to the Committee, an
allowance of £50 per annum being allocated to certain members of the clerical staff for clerical
assistance.
The social work of the Tuberculosis Care Committee is ancillary to the work of the Public Health
Committees of the Borough Council and London County Council in the sphere of the prevention and
treatment of tuberculosis. The principal duties performed are :
(1) The assessment of patients' contributions, who are receiving institutional treatment at the
hands of the London County Council.
(2) The co-ordination of the various agencies which can be invoked to assist patients and their
dependants.
No funds are available in the hands of the Committee for the assistance of patients.
The Committee met 25 times during the year at the Town Hall, and the attendance of members
has been well maintained. 299 individual cases were considered.
The following summaries illustrate a few of the beneficial social activities of the Care Committee
during the last two years:—
A (aged 26 years).—This young woman returned home after a long period of institutional treatment and
became dependent on her mother and two sisters, whose earnings were not sufficient to provide her with extra
nourishment. The case was brought to the notice of the Charity Organisation Society, who at once made a
grant of milk and eggs. The Society also provided a bath chair for the use of the patient.
B (aged 20 years) .—Shortly after discharge from institutional treatment this patient was certified fit for
work and ceased to receive sickness benefit. She registered at the Employment Exchange, but was refused
unemployment benefit on the ground that she was not genuinely seeking work. The aunt with whom she lived
depended on a small allowance from her husband who had separated from her, and the fact that there was no
income to replace the patient's sickness benefit caused real hardship. The Tuberculosis Care Committee,
from their intimate knowledge of the case, felt convinced that a misunderstanding had arisen. Representations
were made to the Ministry of Labour, and a member of the Care Committee, who is also a member of a Committee
of the Employment Exchange, gave the matter his personal support. After inquiry the young woman's claim
to unemployment benefit was substantiated, and the arrears were duly paid.
Mr. and Mrs. C (aged 29 and 27 years).—Husband and wife both consumptive. The wife was away at a
sanatorium when her husband was taken ill with haemoptysis. She returned home immediately. Later on the
husband was admitted to Brompton Hospital. During the absence of Mrs. C. the baby had been boarded
with friends for payment, but that arrangement could not be continued owing to the loss of Mr. C.'s income.
The London County Council were unable to accept the baby for boarding out under the contact scheme, and as
Mr. and Mrs. C. were unwilling to place the child in charge of the Guardians, it seemed probable that Mrs. C.
would have to remain at home. Mr. C., being an ex-soldier, the case was referred by the Tuberculosis Care
Committee to the United Services Fund. Within a short time satisfactory arrangements were made for the
care of the child, and Mrs. C. then consented to go away for further treatment.