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the sick to Hospital, when they cannot be safely treated at home. I
may mention that a similar communication was addressed by the
Medical Officer of Health to the Chief Commissioner of Metropolitan
Police, and that the Chief Commissioner has issued
instructions to Divisional Surgeons, requiring them to notify the
occurrence of infectious illness in the residence of a police officer, to
the Medical Officer of Health."
The above letter was formally acknowledged, without loss
of time, and a further communication promised, which duly
arrived July 21. In this letter "an anxious desire to meet as far
as may be the wishes of the Vestry " was expressed, and it was
stated that “the Department never loses an opportunity of inculcating
upon its servants how important it is that in cases of
infectious and contagious diseases in their families they should
remove the sick to hospital." Copies of three notices, which
“have been placed in the hands of every post office servant
having infectious or contagious disease in his house," were enclosed,
one of them having been issued “early in the present
year to the numerous medical officers of the Department
throughout the country, in which they have been instructed,
that if in their district it be not already the rule to give notice
of such disease to the Sanitary Authority, it would be well that
such a rule should be introduced in the case of post office servants,"
and another, also issued this year, “indicating how, so
far as the metropolitan district is concerned, admission to
hospital can best be secured and the removal of the sick
effected. As regards compulsion, however, which would seem
to be suggested in.Dr. Orme Dudfield.s letter of the 30th October
last, this . . the department is not prepared to employ."
The letter having been considered by the Works, Sanitary and
General Purposes Committee, they adopted my suggestion that
your Vestry should be recommended to request the Postmaster
General to issue an instruction to the numerous Medical Officers
*
of the Department, to give notice to the Sanitary Authority,
of the existence of dangerous infectious disease in the persons or
families of post office servants, no such notice having hitherto
been given or received, and this was done accordingly.