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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Willesden 1935
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Willesden]
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119
APPENDIX K.
Submitted to the Hospital Sub-Committee on 5th March, 1935.
ACCOMMODATION FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
The number of beds for which this Hospital is built is 152 including 20 cubicles, according to
the standard of the Ministry of Health, which requires 144 sq. ft. per bed. With the introduction
of cubicles, however, it was considered possible to reduce the floor space per bed, and provided 30
cubicles were operating it was considered generally that 120 sq. ft. per bed would be safe. The
Hospital would then have accommodation for 189 patients. At the present moment the accommodation,
taking all factors into consideration, is less than 179, as 20 and not 30 cubicles are working.
It has also to be remembered that having regard to the need for separating patients and for reserving
wards for different diseases and different sexes, it is seldom possible to utilise the total number of
beds in an Infectious Diseases Hospital. I think it will be obvious to the Committee that the greater
the number of cubicle beds provided, the more likely is the Medical Superintendent to be able to utilise
his beds fully.
Between the 1st October, 1934, and the 22nd February, 1935, there have been 150 and less
than 170 patients in Hospital on 96 days, and 170 patients or more on 21 days. This figure of 170
is, in the opinion of the Medical Superintendent and myself, the limit of the safety zone with only
20 cubicles provided. On the 5th February, 1935. there were 183 patients in the Hospital.
These183 patients were distributed in the best possible manner but there was, nevertheless, not only overcrowding in the Hospital generally but overcrowding in Wards B, C and D particularly, as shewn in the following table:—
| Ward. | Ministry of Health Standard. (144 sq. ft. per patient.) | Standard with 30 cubicles. (120 sq. ft. per patient.) | Number in each ward on the 5th February, 1935. (i.e., the day with the largest total number of cases in the Hospital.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | 12 | 15 | 18 |
| C | 16 | 20 | 22 |
| D | 28 | 32 | 38 |
| E | 16 | 20 | 18 |
| F | 21 | 25 | 24 |
| G | 21 | 25 | 23 |
| H | 18 | 22 | 18 |
| Ml (Cubicles) | 10 | 10 | 12 (includes 2 mothers with 2 babies.) |
| M2 (Cubicles) | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Total | 152 | 179 (practically less than this number as only 20 cubicles are in use). | 183 |
| M3 (Cubicles unfurnished) | — | 10 | — |
Having regard to the foregoing statement the Committee will appreciate that the bringing
into use of the 10 cubicles now lying idle at the Hospital is urgently necessary and this is the considered
opinion of both the Medical Superintendent and myself.
The Committee will further realise that the number of beds that the Ministry of Health consider
should be provided for infectious diseases in Willesden with its population of 198,433 (estimated for
Midsummer, 1935) is 198 on the basis of 144 sq. ft. per bed. Such a standard allows of some elasticity,
and a hospital with 198 beds constructed on an allowance of 144 sq. ft. per bed would probably be
able to admit on emergency something like 240 patients. On the other hand, when the 30 cubicles
are in use the figure of 189 on the basis of 120 sq. ft. per bed for the Willesden Infectious Diseases
Hospital does not permit of this elasticity, and it will be necessary for the Committee to consider that
any number of patients frequently in excess of 180 would constitute overcrowding of the Hospital.
GEORGE F. BUCHAN,
Medical Officer of Health.