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the relieving officer, not only upon the application of sanitary officials,,
but also upon the certificate and application of private medical
practitioners, as I long ago recommended.
4. The Resident Medical Officer of the Kensington Dispensary, by request of
the Committee of Management, gives me information of all infectious
cases, which he is not allowed to treat in the homes of the poor, where
isolation is impracticable.
5. Medical men favour me occasionally with information of cases, especially
when the}' desire assistance to get patients, (e.g., domestic servants),
removed to hospitals; or when they want the aid of the disinfecting
staff.
6. The Chief Commissioner of Police has instructed Divisional Surgeons that
on the occurrence of infectious disease being reported in the residence of
a police officer, the Medical Officer of Health is to receive due notice of
the fact, and such cases are notified occasionally.
7. The Postal Authorities have taken a similar step, having intimated to the
numerous medical officers of the Department throughout the country,
that if in their several districts it be not already the rule to give notice
of infectious diseases to the Sanitary Authority, it would be well that
such a rule should be introduced in the case of Post Office servants.
A few cases have been notified, but either Post Office servants are very
free from infectious complaints, or the requirements of the Department
are not much regarded.
3. In my annual report for 1877 I referred to an important resolution by the
London School Board which, at my request, directed the Superintendents
of Divisions throughout the Metropolis, to instruct the "Visitors" to
report to the several Medical Officers of Health all cases of infectious
disease coming to their knowledge in the discharge of their official
duties, which necessarily take them frequently into the homes of the
poorer classes. To facilitate the transmission of this information by the
Visitors, I prepared a form for their use, but I must say that the
resolution of the Board has not been attended hitherto with all the
hoped-for results. The Board, moreover, at one time, showed a disposition
to recede from the position they had taken up, for on my calling
their attention to the omission on the part of the Visitors to report
cases, the "divisional members," to whom my communication was
referred, simply recommended that the Visitors should report cases
when they had reason to suppose that no duly qualified medical man
was in attendance. " When a duly qualified medical man has charge of
a case, they are not prepared to do more than take steps for seeing that
proper precautions are taken at the Schools." This decision, if it had been
final, would have been regrettable. The Board, however, subsequently
passed a resolution directing Teachers also, to inform the Medical Officer