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Mass X-Ray Service
(This report was kindly supplied by the Organising Secretary of the
South West London Mass X-Ray Service.)
In 1963, Units of the South West London Mass X-Ray Service made
a total of 92 visits in the City of Westminster, during which 33,658 people
were examined, of whom 61 were referred to Chest Clinics for further
investigation. Fifty-six visits were made to firms and organisations,
which included five large hotels. Two University Colleges and one Training
College were visited in connection with the London County Council
B.C.G. Inoculation Scheme, to X-ray students and positive reactors to
the tuberculin skin tests.
A Mass X-Ray Unit was installed on the premises of a large organisation
in the Strand, where 2,550 people were X-rayed from their staff,
and the staff of adjacent shops and offices. Three cases were sent to
Chest Clinics for further investigation.
At the end of the year a Unit moved into the Board of Trade Offices
at Horse Guards Avenue, where 6,120 Civil Servants from the Ministries
were X-rayed, of whom seven were referred for further investigation.
The regular monthly visits to Bruce House, the London County
Council Lodging House in Kemble Street, W.C.2, which were begun in
1958, were continued throughout 1963. During the year, personal letters
were sent to all newcomers inviting them to be X-rayed and, in all,
438 were examined, of whom 10 were referred to Chest Clinics. Visits
were also made to Rowton House, Vauxhall, The Little Sisters of the
Poor, St. Peter's Home, the Salvation Army Hostel and the Church
Army Hostel in Great Peter Street. Altogether, 402 residents at these
Hostels have been examined, of whom 11 were referred to Chest Clinics.
The six-monthly service for men over 45, which was inaugurated in
South London in December, 1958, in an attempt to provide some
protection against the hazards of lung cancer, is still in operation, and
some 18,000 men are regularly attending the South West London Mass
X-Ray Service Units. Nearly 100 firms in Westminster are co-operating
by making it possible for their male employees in this age group to attend
twice a year, either at their place of work, or at a convenient centre.
Many visits to Westminster have been made to provide this special