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70
Extra Nourishment.
Provision of special nourishment in the form of milk was
granted to 38 selected cases for varying periods during the year,
and 16 cases were in receipt of extra nourishment at the end of
the year.
Residential Treatment.
269 males, 249 females and 45 children were treated in
Residential Institutions in connection with the Croydon Tuberculosis
Scheme during 1946.
Owing to the difficulty of obtaining nursing and domestic
staff and other factors, the number of patients treated in the
Croydon Borough Sanatorium during the year was considerably
reduced. At the end of the year there were 78 beds occupied,
compared with 64 at the end of 1945 and the normal 94 beds
pre-war.
Thoracic Surgery.
There is great need for better provision for Thoracic Surgery
both minor and major, in the treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis,
and also for Non-Tuberculous diseases of the chest. This
unfortunate position is not peculiar to Croydon- There is, at
present, an insufficiency of surgeons especially skilled in this
branch of surgery, and also of hospital beds for the .patients. The
few patients, who have been able to have major operations, have
had to wait for a considerable period, sometimes up to two years.
Owing to this delay some patients either are not so fit or are no
longer fit for the operation, due to deterioration in their condition.
During the year 17 patients had Phrenic Nerve Operations
performed at Mayday Hospital, and a number of other cases
received surgical treatment at Brompton Hospital and in the
Chest Unit at Horton Kmergency Hospital.
The immediate results of treatment of patients discharged
from residential institutions during the year are as follows: —
Pulmonary Tuberculosis.
In Class T.B. Minus, 15 males, 19 females and 3 children
were discharged with the disease in a quiescent condition, i.e.,
68.5 per cent, of the total cases in this class. Three males, 11
females and 3 children were not in a quiescent condition, 31.5
per cent.