View report page

Work of the Dispensary.—A special report with regard to the work of the
Dispensary in connection with the prevention of consumption is made by the Medical
Officer of that institution. He has been good enough, however, to prepare a short
summary regarding the most important points, which is given below.
As mentioned in the report for 1910, though the Dispensary is entirely voluntary,
the Executive Committee, in which the management of the institution is vested,
includes the Mayor, two members of the Public Health Committee (the Chairman,
the Rev. J. A. Beaumont, M.A., and Mr. Councillor Harvey), and the Medical Officer
of Health.
The relations between the Officers of the Dispensary, Dr. Halliday Sutherland,
the Medical Officer, and Nurse Barry, and the Staff of the Public Health Department
have been most friendly. That the end in view was the benefitting of the consumptives
in the Borough, and the prevention of the spread of the disease, has never been lost
sight of.
So far as possible, between bodies carrying out duties in many respects alike, overlapping
has been avoided, and every assistance in the work has been given by one to
the other.
As a source of information as to early cases of infection, and to the number
of infected contacts in a household, the Dispensary has been of the greatest use, no
fewer than 173 of the total notifications (190), sent in by Dr. Sutherland, being
of cases previously unnotified.
The following is the summary kindly supplied by Dr. Sutherland:
" From the opening of the Dispensary on November 22nd, 1910, up to December
31st, 1911, 690 new patients have attended for examination and diagnosis, and
the subsequent visits of patients under treatment at the Dispensary numbered 3,721; of
these patients, 266 or 38'5 per cent. were 'contacts,' under which term are included
all those who are related to or have been living in contact with a patient already
attending the Dispensary.
" In all, 482 cases were found to be suffering from pulmonary or other forms of
tuberculosis, and of these 173 were notified to you for the first time. Of special
significance is the fact that 312 or 64.5 per cent. of these patients had never previously
received any form of medical treatment, and that only 2.4 per cent. had been
definitely treated by general practitioners.