View report page

hospital admission of elderly patients. The outstanding shortage
is in maternity bed accommodation and this whole question is at
present under review.
Laboratory facilities
I would again record my appreciation and thanks to the staff
of the Public Health Laboratory Service, both at Colindale and
at Edmonton, for their unfailing assistance during the year. We did
not have to call upon the Laboratory to any great extent during
1963 owing to the absence of major outbreaks of infectious disease.
It is, however, very satisfactory to remember that the Public Health
Laboratory Service is available to us, and that any calls we make
upon it will be readily and sympathetically met.
Summary of the work carried out by the Laboratory Service
for the year is:
Positive Negative
Swabs for diphtheria bacilli — 110
Sputa for tubercle bacilli — 16
Throat and Nose 238
Faeces 1,751
Urine 155
Blood 126
Others 90
Mortuary
The mortuary arrangements remain as set out fully in the
Annual Report for 1946, with the addition mentioned in the 1960
Annual Report that we now have a firm agreement with Prince
of Wales' Hospital to accept Southgate bodies.
In 1963, 144 bodies were sent to the mortuary at the Prince
of Wales' Hospital.
Scabies and Lice
Our procedure in regard to the treatment of scabies and
infestation by lice remains as in previous years. In cases requiring
treatment at a Cleansing Station, it is our practice to arrange with
the Medical Officer of Health of Edmonton for treatment to be
carried out at the Edmonton Cleansing Station.
During 1963, seven persons were treated for Scabies at the
Edmonton Cleansing Station.
15