View report page

47
to a place where sanatorium principles prevailed. Thus many chronic
infectious cases spent long periods there, away from their homes, and were
often able to resume work for a period when discharged. Advanced
eases drifted there and died, which also lessened the risk of infection at
home.
(8) The demolition of slum areas, which are by nature breeding grounds
for tuberculosis, and the removal of insanitary conditions went steadily
forward as part of the Council's policy until interrupted by the war.
Simultaneously the Council provided its own municipal dwellings and
encouraged similar projects by private bodies such as the Peabody Trust.
The last block of dwellings to be constructed by the Trust was completed
in 1913. Those dwellings contain many flats of three and four rooms,
complete with every convenience. They are well planned, well lit and
airy, and should ensure a healthy standard of living. Since 1919 the
processes of demolition and construction have been resumed. There are
difficulties in the way—enhanced freehold values, &c. and progress will be
slow, but there is no greater preventive measure against tuberculosis
than the eradication of foul, dilapidated, and overcrowded houses.
(9) Tuberculosis Dispensary Scheme.—This was established by the
Council in 1916 and fulfils its function in the prevention of tuberculosis
in the ways already described in this report; facilities for diagnosis of
early and doubtful cases by co-operation with the medical practitioners
of the district; examination of home contacts of definite cases; selection
of cases for sanatorium and hospital; periodic examination and supervision
of cases after sanatorium treatment, inspection of and advice in the
homes; a centre of information for outside bodies interested in the welfare
and employment of consumptives.
(xvii) Special Difficulties Encountered.—The difficulties experienced
in the campaign against tuberculosis are those which exist in all urban
areas at the present time. The chief of these is the lack of housing accommodation.
There are many instances in Westminster where patients
and their families would gladly move from their two or three-roomed
tenements into small houses in the suburbs if they were obtainable. The
demand for the working-class houses erected by the London County
Council in the Roehampton and Wormwood Scrubs districts is far in
excess of the number erected or in process of erection. Also the rents
and travelling expenses seem to put them beyond the reach of Westminster
workers. There are instances of overcrowding among families
where one or more consumptives may be found, and those cases have been
dealt with as far as possible under the existing sanitary enactment
The expense of finding an additional room when unemployment is so
(3399)q D 2