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required, together with frank discussions, where the
problems on both sides might be thoroughly ventilated.
Few would deny that this could do other than good.
I must conclude this section by paying a personal
tribute to the hospitals serving this Area. The broad
principles may require adjustment, but my personal relations
with the hospital staffs concerned and the co-operation
which I invariably receive, have always been most cordial.
This, however, is not enough. So long as the principles
are suspect, the machinery set up to put these principles
into operation cannot be expected to function smoothly.
The admission of cases of infectious disease to
hospital has continued to work very satisfactorily throughout
the year. From my monthly reports to the Public Health
Committee, it will be obvious that the infectious diseases
picture has changed materially during the past few years.
This has eased the strain on hospital beds. The principle
which we adopt in regard to the admission of cases of
infectious disease have remained unaltered. Broadly
speaking, we recommend the admission to hospital of all cases
in which continuous nursing and medical advice are required,
or where the danger of complications or sequelea is likely
to arise. So far as mild infectious diseases are concerned
e.g. measles, scarlet fever and the like, we do not press for
admission to hospital unless suitable isolation cannot be
provided in the home, or unless the employment of a breadwinner
is affected. For practical purposes, "suitable
isolation" might be defined as the provision of a room for
the patient's sole use. It is worth recording that the
general practitioners co-operate most cordially in the
application of these principles, as do Coppctts Wood Isolation
Hospital and the other hospitals bo which our cases are
from time to time admitted,
Care of the Aged.
Few subjects have received more attention within
recent years than the care of the aged. We know that two
new words have been introduced into our vocabulary,
geriatrics and gerontology, both having to do with the
process of growing old and the afflications which old age
brings with it. We also know that people's minds have
been increasingly turned, not only to the urgent, often
tragic problems which face an elderly individual, but to
the broader picture as it relates to the community and even
to the country as a whole.
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