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6.—Contacts, suspects, and susceptibles are given introduction cards to
the St. Pancras Dispensary for the purpose of medical examination,
diagnosis, and report.
7.—The treatment of patients is referred in suitable cases to (a) Medical
Practitioners, (b) Provident Dispensaries, Clubs, etc., (c) Hospitals
and Public Dispensaries, (d) Poor Law Authorities, and (?) to various
philanthropic agencies.
The scheme for the voluntary notification of consumption in St. Pancras
commenced at the beginning of 1906. Daring the year 1911 only 59 voluntary
medical certificates were received, as compared with 192 in the preceding year.
The voluntary system is now superseded by the Regulations of 1911 before
mentioned, which came into force 1st January, 1912.
Under the Poor Law Regulations during 1911, of a total number of 861
cases notified, 237 were received from the Workhouse, 98 from the South
Infirmary, 363 from the North Infirmary, 137 from District Medical Officers,
and 26 from extra parochial institutions. The St. Pancras Guardians have
provided at the North Infirmary six wards specially for consumption, four of
the wards containing 33, 33, 33, and 16 bods respectively for men, and two
wards containing 33 and 16 beds respectively for women. There are also in
addition 12 beds for men and 6 beds for women in other parts of the building,
making a total of 182 beds.
Under the Hospitals Regulations, 1911, the duty is imposed upon the Medical
Officer who is in medical attendance upon a patient at a hospital to send a
notification to the Medical Officer of Health for the area in which the hospital
is situate, and the Medical Officer of Health who receives a notification
relating to a patient whose residence is not within his area must transmit the
notification to the Medical Officer of Health for the area where the patient
resides and at the same time inform the medical officer of the hospital that he
has done so. These regulations came into force on the 1st May, 1911, and up
to the 31st December certificates to the number of 1192 were received. Of
these 1,192 cases, 266 referred to patients residing in St. Pancras, 618 to
patients residing in other Metropolitan Boroughs, and 308 to patients residing
in districts outside the Metropolitan area.
The work of receiving, recording, and distributing these notifications
imposes a heavy additional duty upon the clerical staff of the Public Health
Department.
The number of deaths in St. Pancras from the pulmonary form of tuberculosis
during the year was 330, as compared with 297, 374, and 362 during the
three preceding years respectively.
At the Conference of Metropolitan Cities and Boroughs on matters relating
to Public Health, held at Spring Gardens on the 6th April, 1911, the following
resolutions were passed on the subject of pulmonary tuberculosis: —
(a) That the principle of compulsory notification should be extended to
all cases of pulmonary tuberculosis.
(b) That the establishment of tuberculosis dispensaries throughout London
is urgently required.