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72
Extra Nourishment.
Provision of special nourishment in the form of milk was
granted to 31 selected cases for varying periods during the year,
and 17 cases were in receipt of extra nourishment at the end of
the year.
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 61 patients had Phrenic Nerve Operations
performed at Mayday Hospital, and a number of other cases
received surgical treatment at Brompton Hospital, in the
Chest Unit at Horton Emergency Hospital and at London Chest
Hospital.
Residential Treatment.
361 males, 255 females and 54 children were treated in
Residential Institutions in connection with the Croydon Tuberculosis
Scheme during 1947.
At the end of the year there were 77 beds occupied in the
Croydon Borough Sanatorium, North Cheam, compared with 78
at the end of 1946 and the normal 94 beds pre-war.
The immediate results of treatment of patients discharged
from residential institutions during the year are as follow:—
Pulmonary Tuberculosis.
In Class T.B. Minus, 14 males, 16 females and 4 children
were discharged with the disease in a quiescent condition, i.e.,
53.9 per cent. of the total cases in this class. Twelve males and
15 females were not in a quiescent condition, 42.8 per cent. Two
females died, i.e., 3,3 per cent.