London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of Westminster 1931
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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43
The accommodation is ample and excellent and the rooms are arranged
to promote easy and efficient management of the clinics. The fact that
the Dispensary is now permanently established under the best conditions,
and on the old site, should be to the benefit of the work, which was
naturally affected in certain respects by the transfers in 1930 and 1931.
400 new cases were seen by the Tuberculosis Officer during 1931, as
compared with 341 in 1930. 243 of these new cases were considered to
be tubercular, although many were not at an active stage of the disease.
The proportion of notified cases seen annually shows no great variation, and new cases are obtained from the sources named in the following table in fairly constant proportion each year:—
| 1929. | 1930. | 1931. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practitioners | 169 | 139 | 152 |
| Health Visitors | 162 | 121 | 134 |
| St. Stephen's Hospital | 65 | 41 | 76 |
| Ministry of Pensions | 8 | 6 | 5 |
| School Medical Officer | 33 | 15 | 18 |
| Hospitals | 11 | 7 | 7 |
| Referred by Friends, Charitable Organisations, etc. | 13 | 12 | 8 |
| 461 | 341 | 400 |
The cases referred by the Ministry of Pensions are usually pensioners
who have moved into Westminster from other districts. There are still
a number of pensioners among the old cases who attend the Dispensary,
but this branch of the work is naturally one which decreases each year.
The cases classed as referred from St. Stephen's Hospital are, for the
most part, cases seen by the Tuberculosis Officer in the first instance during
his visits to the hospital. The value of these visits has been referred to
in previous reports. Contact is established not only with the new cases
mentioned, but also with many old patients who are receiving treatment
in the hospital. Suitable cases are selected by the Tuberculosis Officer
in consultation with the medical officers of the hospital and recommendation
for Sanatorium treatment is made. The willing co-operation of the
Medical Superintendent and other officers of the hospital has been of
great value in the working of the Council's Tuberculosis Scheme.
(6862) D 2