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beds for adults and 381 hospital and sanatorium beds for children were considered sufficient for this
purpose. Of this number it was arranged to obtain 100 beds for adults and 150 beds for children
from the Metropolitan Asylums Board, the cost being borne by them, and the remainder from voluntary
institutions at the cost of the Council.
At the end of 1915 the Metropolitan Asylums Board were able to provide 75 beds for adults and
100 beds for children. The number of beds available at voluntary institutions was variable owing to
military needs in respect of hospital beds, but the Council was able to meet all the demands made upon
it for adult beds, with the exception of a few cases of surgical tuberculosis. In the case of children,
the demand for beds has been somewhat in excess of the supply. On the 1st of January of this year 112
adults and 236 children were undergoing treatment.
The supervision of the patients in the home while under dispensary treatment, and after
sanatorium treatment, is a matter of considerable importance, and the Council on 15th June, 1916
(see Minutes, p. 881-5), adopted a scheme for the appointment of borough tuberculosis care committees
fully representative of all the organisations concerned. In the special circumstances of the time,
however^ the borough councils have felt themselves unable to proceed with the scheme, and temporary
arrangements were necessary for dealing with cases accepted by the Council for institutional treatment,
particularly children, and the Council has, wherever possible, appointed committees associated with
dispensaries known as interim tuberculosis care committees. These committees include as many as
possible of the representative persons contemplated in the model scheme already referred to, and their
duties although limited to cases referred to the Council are similar to those which would be discharged
by the borough tuberculosis care committees.
Mental Deficiency Act, 1913.
The Council has appointed additional medical staff to the equivalent of five sessions a week, Cases notified
and a full-time inspector, and has approved the full-time medical staff for the purpose of conducting :^c1^lon
medical examinations, and three inspectors, in addition to the one specially appointed, for conveying
alleged defectives to places of safety.
Information was received by the Clerk of the Asylums and Mental Deficiency Committee from
various sources of alleged cases of mental defect in 1,172 cases during 1915, and 890 of these were
dealt with by the local authority. The remainder of the cases were still under consideration at the
end of the year or were otherwise disposed of. Among the 890 cases dealt with, 70 were sent to
institutions, 687 were placed under supervision, 38 were sent to places of safety pending the presentation
of a petition, and 50 were referred to the Poor Law. In 17 cases the lack of accommodation
prevented action being taken, and 7 cases had already been discharged from prison.
Census of Homeless Persons.
In accordance with the practice which has obtained for several years a census of homeless persons
in the county of London was taken on a night in February, 1915.
In consequence of the war the main streets were very dark and few persons of the " homeless "
type were seen. The highest numbers were recorded in the central district and in that portion of the
eastern district bordering on the City. Most of the staircases found tenanted in previous years were
inaccessible owing to the entrance doors being locked and the remaining few were very sparsely populated,
only 3 males and 11 females being found. Fewer homeless women were encountered in the streets
and round coffee stalls, the latter being almost deserted. In a charitable institution in Westminster,
formerly used in conjunction with the King's Labour Tents when these were in existence, only 13 men were
" sitting up," as against 73 last year.
In all, 178 homeless persons (111 male.! and 67 females) were found, as compared with 54C on
the previous occasion in February, 1914. At the same time the common lodging house population
had decreased from 20,173 to 17,305, and the inmates of casual wards, formerly 335, were only 179.
It should, moreover, be pointed out that the common lodging house figures now include 652 Belgian
soldiers and 66 other Belgian refugees. In shelters not licensed by the Council there were 230 men,
including 90 Belgian refugees, 150 women, and 3 children. A noteworthy feature is the great reduction
in the casual ward accommodation, now consisting of only 505 beds, or less than 30 per cent, of the
number available in the years preceding 1913.
The large reduction in the number of homeless persons may be attributed partly to the scheme
(see Annual Report, 1914, vol. III., p. 63) now in existence for dealing with this class of persons, and
to the absence of the free food and the shelter attractions of former years. There is also evidence that
many of the formerly " homeless " class are finding light employment. As an instance of this, an
" elevator " accommodating nearly 600 men in normal times, had only 238 men on the night of the
census.
Maternity and Child Welfare.
In 8 boroughs schemes have been initiated by the borough councils. In 6 boroughs, both
voluntary and oliicial schemes are in operation, and in 13 boroughs only voluntary schemes are in
existence. In this connection it is worthy of note that the work of the Council's inspectors under the
Midwives Act stands in close relation with that of the maternity and child welfare centres, and the Local
Government Board have recognised this work for the purposes of grant. In cases of ophthalmia neonatorum
and pemphigus neonatorum occurring in the practice of certified midwives, cultures and swabs