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accommodation for other purposes is urgently required.
Various alternatives present themselves. Empty beds
might be filled by the admission of such conditions
as impetigo, severe scabies, gastro-enteritis and
skin infections of all kinds. This represents the
policy which we ourselves have encouraged.
Alternatively, districts might combine to admit their
infectious disease cases to one or more hospitals
leaving at least one hospital to be used for another
purpose. The obvious use of a hospital so freed would
be for maternity purposes, or for the admission of
cases of tuberculosis, for which accommodation is at
present limited.
It will be obvious that, in attempting to solve
existing local problems, the future of our own
Isolation Hospital must be considered. I feel that
this problem should be tackled now., and that it is of
sufficient urgency to warrant an immediate investigation,
followed, if at all possible, by prompt action.
In times such as these, every hospital bed is a
valuable acquisition to our defence mechanism. Eeds
which are allowed to remain empty show no profit, and
are certainly no credit to a progressive policy. The
same remarks apply with added force to redundant staff.
If this area can make any contribution to the
general need, that contribution should be made as fully
and as speedily as possible. For this reason, it is
to be hoped that the Health Report for 1946 will contain
a record of progress, made in this vitally important
field.
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