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52
PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS.
The compulsory notification of Tuberculosis has proceeded by stages to its
completion.
On the 1st January, 1909, the Public Health (Tuberculosis) Regulations
came into operation. They require cases of pulmonary tuberculosis coming
under the notice of the following Poor La.v Officers in the discharge of their
respective duties to be notified within 48 hours to the Medical Officer of
Health:—
1.—Medical Officers of Poor Law Institutions to notify cases occurring
in their Institutions to Medical Officers of Health of the district in
which the sufferer resided previous to admission to the Institution.
(Notification Form A.)
2.—District Medical Officers to report cases occurring among persons
visited by them under their agreement with the Guardians. (Notification
Form B.)
3.—Superintendent Officers of Poor Law Institutions to notify intended
places of residence of persons leaving the Institution who have been
certified by the Medical Officer thereof to be suffering from
pulmonary tuberculosis. (Notification Form C.)
4.—Relieving Officers to notify changes of residence of persons who have
been reported by District Medical Officers to be suffering from
pulmonary tuberculosis. (Notification Form D.)
On March 22nd, 1911, the Local Government Board issued the Public
Health (Tuberculosis in Hospitals) Regulations, 191.1, which came into
operation on May 1st. Under these Regulations notifications are received of
all phthisical patients attending hospitals, dispensaries, or similar institutions.
Finally, we have at the end of 1911 an order of the Local Government
Board called " The Public Health (Tuberculosis Regulations), 1911," under
which all other cases of pulmonary phthisis must be notified.
This order came into force on the 1st January, 1912, and the Board advised
that the arrangements which were necessary to facilitate the execution of the
order should be made as soon as possible.
These latter Regulations complete the system of compulsory notification which
was inaugurated in 1908, and relate to cases in Poor Law practice, afterwards
supplemented by the Public Health (Tuberculosis in Hospitals) Regulations,
1911. They make it the duty of every Medical Practitioner, with certain
exceptions, to notify every case of pulmonary tuberculosis, either in his public
or private practice. For each case notified the medical man is entitled to
a fee of 2s. 6d.
In the circular letter which accompanied the last series of Regulations, the
Local Government Board observe that pulmonary tuberculosis is now generally
recognised as a communicable disease. It has, however, certain special
characteristics which raise new administrative problems, and some of the
measures which were appropriate to diseases notifiable under the Public
Health (London) Act, 1891, are hardly applicable to pulmonary tuberculosis.