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It had been hoped to install an additional surgery at the Westminster Treatment Centre some
time during the year, but owing to a combination of unfortunate delays in adapting the premises,
difficulty in obtaining the necessary equipment, and shortage of professional staff, this very desirable
project was unable to be completed by the end of the year; but it is gratifying to record at the time
of writing this Report (May 1969) that the surgery is now equipped up to the highest modern
standards and is fully functional.
No report on the dental service would be complete without mention of all the staff concerned
in maintaining its efficient running, both in the surgeries and the school health office, and the Chief
Dental Officer would wish to record his thanks and congratulations on the continued high standard
of work in this important branch of the Council's services.
Statistics relating to the dental service for expectant and nursing mothers and children under 5,
and the School Dental Service are set out in Tables 57 and 58, pages 111 and 112.
CHEST CLINICS
There are three Chest Clinics in Westminster situated at the following addresses:—
Paddington Chest Clinic, 14-18 Newton Road, W.2. (229-8821)
St. Marylebone Chest Clinic, Council House, Marylebone Road, W.1. (935-7766)
Westminster Hospital Chest Clinic, St. John's Gardens, S.W.1. (828-9811)
I am indebted to the Consultant Physician at each of these Clinics for the following reports of
their activities during 1968;—
Paddington Chest Clinic—Dr. P. A. Zorab, Consultant Physician
The problem of tuberculosis in this area continues to have special features in that so many of
the immigrant population live in grossly over-occupied conditions and, in consequence, any new
case may spread infection rapidly unless discovered in good time.
Holding regular contact clinics, B.C.G. clinics, providing an X-ray service for general practitioners,
and following up tuberculin positive schoolchildren, has proved most helpful in our aim to eradicate
tuberculosis.
Referrals from general practitioners of patients suffering from asthma, bronchitis and lung
cancer as well as many less common chest diseases, have increased over the past year.
A new Research Project passed by the Regional Board on "The Diaphragm in Obstructive
Airway Disease" was started in August 1968.
Postgraduate and Nursing Teaching remains a regular feature of clinic work.
St. Marylebone Chest Clinic—Dr. G. Shneerson, Consultant Physician
Both the incidence of new cases of tuberculosis and the deaths from cancer of the lung are
remarkably similar to those of the preceding year.
The out-patient facilities for diagnosis and assessment of tuberculosis and other non-tuberculous
conditions remains unchanged; the transfer of Paddington General Hospital, which contained the
in-patient component of the Unit, to the control of the St. Mary's Group has made the resources
of the latter even more readily available than in the past.
Westminster Hospital Chest Clinic—Dr. P. A. Emerson, Consultant Physician
The year 1968 has seen great changes in the Westminster Chest Clinic. In the summer of this year
the clinic moved from its old premises at 1 Ebury Bridge Road into the new Page Street Wing in
Westminster Hospital and the facilities are now excellent. There is now a pulmonary function
testing laboratory which is being linked with a computer and all the facilities of the main hospital
are now always immediately available to patients attending the clinic.
Although the number of patients attending the clinic has increased, the number of newly
diagnosed cases of tuberculosis has fallen slightly compared with the previous year. Thirty-two
new cases of tuberculosis were notified during 1968; twenty-four were males and eight were
females. There were no new cases of tuberculosis in children.