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included the Mayor, two members of the Public Health Committee (The Chairman,
the Rev. J. A. Beaumont and Mr. Councillor Harvey) and the Medical
Officer of Health, were successful in obtaining the services of a highly qualified
and experienced medical officer, Dr. Halliday Sutherland, and a fully trained
nurse, Miss Barry. Both of these officers have entered upon their duties with the
utmost enthusiasm and there seems to be no reason whatever to doubt that the
Borough will derive an immense amount of benefit from their efforts.
The objects of the dispensary as briefly outlined in last year's report are to
obtain all possible information with regard to the amount of consumption in the
Borough; to examine and treat patients; to act in co-operation with all charitable
and other organizations in the Borough for the benefit of the patients; to visit
the homes of patients; to introduce the hygienic methods of treatment into the
home and to see that they are carried out; to examine all persons intimately
in contact with patients, especially members of their families, and to see that they
are put under immediate treatment if such should be considered necessary.
With regard to the work ot the dispensary Dr. Halliday Sutherland writes
as follows:
"The St. Marylebone Dispensary for the Prevention of Consumption,
15, Allsop Place, Upper Baker Street, was open to patients on November 22nd,
1910. From that date up to December 31st, 46 patients came to the Dispensary
for examination, diagnosis, and treatment, and of these, 30 were notified to the
Medical Officer of Health as suffering from active pulmonary tuberculosis. As
a result of the supervision of the homes of patients suffering from pulmonary
tuberculosis, 66 persons in contact with the patients were examined for signs of
active or latent tuberculous disease. The Medical Officer paid 66 visits to
patients' homes, and the Dispensary Nurse made 126 domiciliary visits The
arrangement whereby the Public Health Department notifies the Dispensary of
all admissions of consumptive patients to the Poor Law Infirmary has proved
of great value to the efficiency of the dispensary, as homes are supervised
and contacts examined, where otherwise no preventive measures could have
been taken."
Up till the end of the year 30 notifications of undoubted cases of consumption
had been received from the dispensary. Of these, 22 were notified for the first
time so that it is evident that as a source of information, if in no other way, the
dispensary is likely to be of use to the department.
As a matter of fact, however, the establishment of the dispensary is regarded
as marking a tremendous advance in the crusade against consumption in the
Borough. Individual consumptives resorting to the institutions are likely to derive