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ROMFORD CHEST CLINIC
Dr. S. Thompson, Consultant Chest Physician, reports as
follows:—
During 1962 the Romford Chest Clinic has continued to serve
the needs of the combined areas of Romford Borough and Hornchurch
Urban District and, in addition to the general supervision
of over 1,500 notified cases of tuberculosis, an increasing number
of patients have been referred by General Practitioners for chest
symptoms not caused by tuberculosis. This is a satisfactory
tendency and every encouragement is given to the general public,
through their family doctors, to avail themselves of the diagnostic
facilities provided by the Chest Clinic. By this means it has been
possible to diagnose an increasing number of cases of carcinoma of
the lung, and when the death rate from this disease alone is over
20,000 per annum the importance of early diagnosis cannot be overemphasised.
The Mass Radiography Units were very active in the area and
all cases with any abnormality in the miniature X-ray film are
seen at the Chest Clinic and full investigation is carried out. Most
of these cases are small, indolent tuberculous foci, which are
followed up on the miniature X-ray unit installed in the Chest Clinic.
All the school children with positive tuberculin skin tests are
referred to the Chest Clinic by the School Medical Officers and
investigation is carried out to ensure that no active tuberculous
focus is present.
Examination of contacts to notified cases is done at regular
intervals and for this purpose the miniature X-ray unit in the Chest
Clinic is most useful. All the child contacts are offered B.C.G.
vaccination and these children are followed up to ensure that protection
remains effective.
As my contract with the Regional Hospital Board ends this
year it is probable that, after 40 years' service, this will be the last
report on the Chest Services of the area that I shall submit. As I
have been associated with chest work most of my professional
career I have seen remarkable — even dramatic — changes in the
control of the "white scourge"—tuberculosis, and from the seclusion
of my garden in Shenfield I shall follow with unabated interest the
further progress of the treatment of thoracic disease to which I have
devoted my professional life.
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