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42
three years. Elections to membership take place annually and are made by the
Committee from nominations made by the medical officers in the Council's hospitals
and laboratories. One member is appointed directly by the Medical Officer of
Health. In electing members the Committee aims at maintaining a membership
with a balanced and comprehensive collective experience. The Committee has
power to co-opt members from within or without the service for special purposes.
There is a separate research committee for the Mental Health Services; two
representatives of this committee sit on the Clinical Research Committee and the
two committees also exchange and discuss the minutes of each other's meetings.
The Committee has met regularly since its inception and 33 meetings had been held
up to 31st December, 1945. Among its objects are:—
(1) To assist medical officers of the London County Council in
research;
(2) To advise medical officers in their researches and to assist in
making available to them the resources of the Council hospitals and medical
services;
(3) To appoint sub-committees to make surveys of the results of
treatment and to carry out special clinical investigations;
(4) To report on the value of any particular line of research and the
methods by which it could be assisted ;
(5) To consider and report upon applications from outside workers for
research facilities in the Council's hospitals;
(6) To consider and report upon the use of new appliances and drugs;
(7) To take any steps that may appear desirable for the furtherance
of research in the Council's hospitals.
Applications for the help of the Committee in research may be sent to the
secretary of the Committee by any medical officer in the Council's service through
the medical superintendent of his hospital; they are considered by the Committee,
together with any recommendations made by the medical superintendent through
whom it is transmitted, and the Committee have power to make any enquiries which
they think necessary before deciding what action is appropriate.
In order that the medical staff may be kept aware of the Committee's activities,
copies of the Committee minutes are circulated to the hospitals and laboratories.
During the past six years requests have been received from a number of medical
officers, both from within the Council's service and from outside, for help in conducting
research. Applications have also been received from firms of manufacturing
chemists for trials of drugs. Careful consideration has been given to these requests
and, when necessary, the applicant has been invited to attend a meeting of the
Committee for discussion. In some instances facilities have been given to medical
officers to carry out research in the Council's hospitals. In others, medical officers
have either been given access to the hospital records of certain types of cases or been
informed of their occurrence so as to permit of further investigation. In a few
instances, applicants have been introduced to experts outside the Council's service
or referred to previous literature on the subject. New forms of treatment have been
given a trial whenever there was a reasonable prospect of success. Close liaison is
maintained with the medical supplies branch of the Council's supplies department.
The following list shows some of the matters considered by the Committee:—
Facilities given to medical officers for research in certain hospitals in regard to:—
Therapeutic action of sulphathiazole in acute staphylococcal infections.
Vitamin K content of blood in new-born infants.
Use of phenothiazine in urinary tract infections.
Vitamin B complex deficiency and cases of retrobulbar neuritis.