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18
The problem of the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis has been
approached by the Dispensaries under gradually improved conditions, mainly
due to new arrangements, which serve to render co-operation between the Dispensaries
and the various other authorities, dealing with tuberculosis, much
closer.
The arrangements with the L.C.C. School Medical Officers for the examination
of "contacts," which were mentioned in last year's report, have worked
satisfactorily, and practically no "contacts" of school age now remain unexamined.
During the year the three Tuberculosis Officers have been appointed, for
consultative purposes, as far as tuberculosis is concerned, to the visiting staffs
of the Poor Law Hospitals serving their districts.
This step will doubtless prove to be most helpful, as it introduces personal
contact between the Hospital Medical Superintendents and the Tuberculosis
Officers, without which proper co-operation is almost impossible.
Unfortunately, the problem of the long-standing infective case remains
unsolved. Many of these patients are sent to Sanatoria for a period of a few
months, but arrest of the disease is in most cases impossible, and they eventually
return to their homes, and are a source of danger to the remainder of the
family.
One feature of the work, which becomes more satisfactory each year, is
the increasing co-operation between the private doctors in the Borough and
the Dispensaries. A large number of patients have been examined at each
Dispensary during the year at the request of private practitioners, either for
assistance in diagnosis, or for advice and help regarding suitable treatment.
The fact that the Tuberculosis Officers also are available for consultative
assistance at the homes of patients, when required, is also more widely known
among the doctors.
Close co-operation between private practitioners and the Tuberculosis
Officers is essential in any effective campaign against the disease.
New Patients.
The following tables show the number of patients examined for the first
time. Table 1 includes the "contacts" examined. Analyses of the new
patients and of the "contacts" are appended.