View report page

128
displacements. No single method of contraceptive technique is used. In many
cases Dutch caps are recommended and fitted, and frequently these are supplemented
by solubles or by lactic acid pessaries. The method employed is often dictated by
the medical condition of the applicant, i.e., the degree of necessity for prevention of
contraception. The clinic is held every Monday at 2 p.m.
Reference of individual patients to hospital.—In my report for 1935, reference was
made to certain arrangements with St. Bartholomew's Hospital. In later sections
it will be seen that few patients had to be referred to this hospital. In general it
may be said that the results of the working of these clinics indicates that many women
suffer from minor disorders which can be dealt with efficiently at an outdoor clinic,
but which if left untreated would certainly cause considerable trouble or discomfort
and which might lead to more grave conditions, requiring in-patient treatment in
hospital.
Financial aspect.—The cost of maintenance of the medical clinic, including the
fees for medical and nursing staff, laundry, and a proportion of the drugs—for the
year 1936 was £221 11s. 2d. and, similarly, the cost of maintenance of the gynaecological
clinic was £221 17s. 8d. During 1936 no alterations were made in the fees
which the patients are required to pay. Women who receive treatment at
either clinic pay the sum of 1s. per attendance, and those who receive birth control
appliances are required to refund to the Council the cost thereof. The Medical
Officer of Health is empowered to use his discretion in the matter of the collection
of the charges for birth control appliances, in cases where the women concerned are
unable to afford the cost. It was necessary to remit a portion of the cost in only nine
cases during the year. The fee is usually collected before the apparatus is supplied.
Any female adult who resides or works in the Borough may attend the clinic.
Results.
(a) Medical Clinic.
During the year fifty sessions were held, 105 new cases attended the clinic, and
the total attendances were 550. Most of these patients were referred by clinic
doctors or by health visitors; five cases were referred from the ante-natal clinic and
26 cases from the gynaecological clinic.

The youngest patient was aged 21 years and the oldest 75 years. The mean
age of these 135 patients was 35.7 years. It will be seen that a considerable proportion
of the women were at an age when the strain of child-bearing was
beginning to assert itself.