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The number of patients receiving extra nourishment from the Borough
Council during the year was 63, of whom 18 were receiving it on December
31st, 1931.
The number of shelters supplied on loan during the year was 2.
The number of patients to whom beds and/or bedding were supplied
was 9.
REPORT BY DR. C. K. CULLEN,
Tuberculosis Officer.
The machinery of the new Dispensary is now in full working order. The
change of premises and the general organization of the clerical and other
work of a new department involved a number of changes in procedure which
have been carried out and are contributing to increased efficiency.
A comparison of the statistics for the years 1930 and 1931 shows some
marked differences in certain figures which it may be as well to refer to more
fully.
There has been a heavy drop in the number of total attendances. In the
first few months there was naturally some reluctance on the part of patients
who had been attending the old Dispensary for years to attend a new doctor
and a new Dispensary on the other side of the borough. Most of these have
been visited, and in a large proportion of cases their attendance at the new
Dispensary has been secured. A much bigger factor in the drop has been a
change in administrative procedure. Many chronic cases attend the Dispensary
for years without appreciable change in their condition, which can only
be alleviated and not materially improved by medicinal treatment. Such
cases are now given medicine sufficient for a month instead of a fortnight.
Many of them are patients who cannot get about very much, and this saves
them an unnecessary journey. Should any change occur which makes more
frequent attendance desirable, they are of course free to return at any time
within the month. Insured patients are now all referred to their panel doctors
for treatment unless some special form of treatment is required which cannot
normally be provided by the general practitioners. A number of cases of
bronchitis and other chest complaints which are non-tuberculous, who have
often been under observation and treatment for considerable periods, are now
referred to more suitable centres for treatment.
The Dispensary is primarily a centre for prevention, diagnosis and
supervision of tuberculosis, and the smaller total attendances give a better
opportunity for this work to be done more thoroughly and for the fullest
possible measures to be taken which may restore patients to health. Many