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bed accommodation was seriously restricted, as in other hospitals, by
the shortage of nursing and domestic staff.
Smallpox.— An arrangement with the Surrey County Council
existed whereby any cases of smallpox could be admitted to the Smallpox
Hospital at Clandon, but fortunately no cases of this disease have
occurred in this District since 1932, although each year contacts with
the disease elsewhere are visited when arriving in this District.
General Hospitals.— The general hospitals which chiefly served
this area were the Redhill County Hospital, Croydon General Hospital
and the Purley War Memorial Hospital, but a considerable number of
residents received treatment at various London hospitals and other
county hospitals.
Maternity Hospitals.— An arrangement existed with the Purley
War Memorial Hospital whereby the Council had the call on three beds,
and if accommodation permitted additional cases could be admitted. A
large proportion of cases from this District was admitted to the County
Hospital at Redhill, while a considerable number of residents made
arrangements with private nursing homes or more distant hospitals. An
analysis showing the percentages admitted to institutions for their confinements
is included in a later section of this Report.
With the increased number of births and limitation of accommodation,
the competition to obtain admission remained keen, and the
qualifications imposed upon the applicants would have had to be even
more restrictive, but for the reduction in the average stay of normal
maternity cases in most hospitals. While, as a result, more admissions
have been arranged, this is a retrograde step which authorities have
been forced to take.
When considered in conjunction with the housing situation, which
limits the proportion of expectant mothers who can conveniently arrange
for their confinements in their own homes, the present position cannot be
considered satisfactory, but the problem is a very complex one and is
linked with other social and economic questions.
MASSAGE ESTABLISHMENTS.
The provisions of Part IV of the Surrey County Council Act, 1931,
relating to the registration and management of massage establishments,
are in operation. Eleven such establishments are situated within the
Urban District.
BACTERIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL EXAMINATIONS.
The examination of swabs for diphtheria and sputa for tuberculosis
was carried out by the Medical Officers of the Wandle Valley Isolation
Hospital, and during 1947 the following numbers of specimens were
examined:—
Swabs for diphtheria 43
Sputa for tuberculosis 47
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