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130
(m) Finsen Light Treatment. In 1921 the Council entered
into an agreement with the London Hospital for the treatment
of persons, suffering from lupus, in the Finsen Light Department
of the hospital. A fee of 5s. is paid for each attendance.
No case is sent there unless recommended by the Tuberculosis
Officer, and the number of treatments authorised at any one
time is limited to twelve. Thirty attendances were made
during the year.
(n) Artificial Pneumothorax. In 1921 the Council agreed
to pay the Hospital Committee of Brompton Hospital for
the supply of artificial pneumothorax refills. In the ordinary
way patients receiving these refills attend as out-patients at
the hospital, but, if necessary, residential treatment is available
for patients presenting symptoms of illness during the
refill. The artificial pneumothorax is produced by the introduction
of air or nitrogen gas into the pleural cavity, i.e., the
cavity surrounding the lung, and thus, by compressing the
lung, hindering the progress of the tuberculous disease.
Many cases of tuberculosis benefit by this treatment, particularly
when one lung is extensively diseased and the other
sound. A pavment of 10s. 6d. per refill is made to the
Brompton Hospital, and only cases recommended by the
Tuberculosis Officer are paid for. Seventy refills were given
during the year.
(o) Care Committee. In 1923 the Council resolved to
re-constitute the Woolwich Tuberculosis Care Committee,
which had existed in association with the old Tuberculosis
Dispensary. prior to the War, but which had gradually ceased
to function. The object of a Tuberculosis Care Committee
is to increase the effectiveness of the tuberculosis scheme
of the Borough Council, and much of the work it undertakes
is outside the powers of the Council. The Woolwich