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20.
SHOREDITCH TUBERCULOSIS CARE COMMITTEE.
I am indebted to Miss E.B. Guest, the secretary of the Shoreditch
Tuberculosis Care Committee, for the following report of Care Work for the
year ended 31st December, 1955.
"During the year to 31st December, 1955, small increases were made in
Retirement Pensions and National Assistance Board grants (averaging 2/6d
per person and 3/6d in the case of certain tuberculous persons). Although
welcome, these increases did not bring the total allowances anywhere near
the amounts necessary to maintain even a moderate standard of living,
particularly for elderly people, with no prospect of returning to work, and
the London County Council's extra nourishment grants of milk, eggs and/or
butter continue to be very necessary to tuberculous patients to supplement
their diet.
The results of the Christmas Seal Sale enabled the work of extra
financial help for the tuberculous to be continued, £276 net having been
added to the fund through this medium to meet particular needs. The
Committee was very pleased that we could thus go on helping our patients,
particularly those off work on long periods of sick leave, to combat the
continued high cost of living. As in previous years, £40 was received from
the London County Council Sunday Cinema Entertainments Fund and £17.10.0
from the United Charities of St. Leonard.
This money was spent in making life easier for tuberculous patients and
their families - in helping them with wireless commitments, in paying fares
for relatives to visit patients in sanatoria, in giving clothes and taking
on removal expenses and hire purchase accounts for patients unexpectedly
incapacitated.
Raring the year it was reported to the Committee that the North East
Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board had it in mind to close down the
tuberculosis ward in St. Leonard's Hospital and transfer the patients then
in the ward to another hospital. The members of the Committee took up the
matter with the Shoreditch Borough Council and a letter of protest was also
sent from this Committee direct to the Board. Representations were made to
the Board and, so far, the ward in question is still open for tuberculous
patients.
The Committee were informed during the year that a proposal was under
consideration that patients in part of Hackney should, at some time in the
future, come under the supervision of the Shoreditch Chest Clinic, with the
consequent extra care work becoming the responsibility of this Committee.
By the end of the year, however, nothing definite had been settled regarding
this proposed transfer of patients and discussions were still proceeding.
Mr. W. Bentley, the Borough Treasurer of Shoreditch and the Hon.Treasurer
of this fund for many years, retired from his work in Shoreditch and the
Committee expressed grateful thanks to Mr. Bentley for all the work he had
done on behalf of the Fund. Mr. F.J. Bailey, the new Borough Treasurer of
Shoreditch, kindly agreed to act as Hon. Treasurer of the fund in his place.