View report page

25
(6.) I think it would be an advantage if there were a rule that
midwives should attend at the office of the Local Supervising
Authority when required. This would facilitate inspections, and
economise the time of the supervising medical officer.
(c.) It should be made clear that midwives are required to
enter in their Case Book, the names and addresses of patients whom
they attend under medical supervision.
(d.) Paragraph 3 of Rule 1 should also apply to midwives
who have been attending any septic case. Many midwives are also
District Nurses and go straight from dressing an ulcerated leg to a
confinement. Possibly, this point could better be met by amending
Rule 5.
(e.) Most of the midwives registered in Croydon are far too
ignorant to be trusted to give vaginal douches. Rule 2 (Sub-section
c.) refers to an antiseptic for douching in special cases. I think it
would be well to define special cases as those which are under
medical care.
(f.) If possible, provision should be made whereby the Local
Supervising Authority could delegate to their executive officer the
power of suspending a midwife pending a meeting of the Authority.
Yours faithfully,
H. Meredith Richards.
G. W. Duncan, Esq.,
Central Midwives' Board.
TUBERCULOSIS of all forms was the assigned cause of death in
220 instances, or 1.49 per 1,000 persons living, while phthisis alone
was responsible for 162 deaths, or 1'o9 per 1,000.
It will be seen from Table VI that the deaths from phthisis
were more numerous than in any of the ten preceding years. Phthisis
has now been voluntarily notifiable in the borough since 1903.
From that date until the end of the year 57 notifications were
received. During 1904, 129 cases were notified, and in
19°5, 75 cases were notified. It will be noticed the
number of notifications is less than in 1904, and only corresponds
to less than half the number of deaths. Probably, therefore,
not more than one-sixth of the total cases came to the knowledge
of the Health Department. All notified cases are visited by one of
the medical officers from the Borough Hospital or myself, so that
patients and their friends may be advised as to the precautions they