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30
With regard to recommendation (4) in paragraph 48 of the
Final Report, the Committee are quite alive to the necessity of the
Tuberculosis Officers increasing their knowledge by post-graduate
instruction and agree that it is wise that this should be done. The
Executive Committee will do all in their power to offer the necessary
facilities as circumstances admit, but under the abnormal circumstances
now existing, nothing more definite than this can be said
at present
(3) Relation of General Practitioners to Dispensaries.
The Dispensary is always open to the general practitioners
of the Borough, and they can, and do, avail themselves of the
services of the Tuberculosis Officer. We cordially invite all Medical
Practitioners to continue to do so.
So far as insured persons are concerned, we have been working
in conjunction with the Insurance Committee for some time past.
All insured patients are treated at the Dispensary when sent by the
Insurance Committee or by a Panel Doctor with the consent of the
Insurance Committee.
So far as dependents and non-insured cases are concerned, the
Dispensary is always open for examination and treatment of these
cases, but at the same time great care is exercised by the Tuberculosis
Officer to see that no infringement of the rights of the Medical
Practitioner takes place. Careful enquiries are made to ascertain
whether a patient is already being attended by a Medical Practitioner,
and if such should prove to be the case, the consent of the
Medical Practitioner is obtained before further treatment is afforded.
Also, if it is considered that a person can well afford to pay, such
person is referred to a Medical Practitioner for treatment.
(4) Examination of Contacts.
In all cases under treatment at the Dispensary, the home is
visited either by the Nurse or Medical Officer, or both, and all contacts
are examined. Many contacts who have been infected by the
disease have been sent away by this Institution to homes in the
country for periods of from 3 to 6 months, and where contacts
have shown unfavourable signs, and are living in homes under
circumstances such as to lead the Tuberculosis Officer to believe that,
whilst not infected at the time of examination, they would very
possibly become so if allowed to remain in such circumstances, they
have also been sent away in very many cases.