View report page

20
hospital was able to meet the needs of a large population for a number of
reasons. One was that the number of cases of diphtheria, largely as the
result of a high proportion of the children being protected by inoculation,
fell to small numbers and then to none. At the same time scarlet fever,
though at times exhibiting marked capacity for spreading, became an
innocuous complaint. The result of this was that whereas before the war,
it was customary for most of those suffering from this infection to be
removed to isolation hospitals, after 1948 removal to hospital became
quite the exception. As all the beds were not being used for the infectious
sick, some were allotted for general medical purposes and some for shortterm
gynaecological cases.
Patients suspected to be suffering from smallpox or typhus fever are
admitted to a special hospital.
Chest Hospitals.
Most of the patients suffering from respiratory tuberculosis are
admitted to Clare Hall, South Mimms, to Harefield Hospital or to Colindale
Hospital. There are also beds for those suffering from this complaint
at the Edgware General Hospital and at Hillingdon Hospital.
Only a few years ago there was a marked shortage of beds for those
suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, with the unfortunate result that
there was at times a waiting list for those needing admission. The fall in
the incidence of tuberculosis has completely altered the position, so
markedly indeed that in some parts of the country some of these hospitals
have been closed.
Mental and Mental Deficiency Hospitals.
Most of those in this district who suffer from mental illness, for which
they need to be treated in hospital, are admitted to Shenley Hospital, near
St. Albans. There are three observation wards in general hospitals (North
Middlesex, Central Middlesex and West Middlesex Hospitals) to which
patients may be admitted for short periods of observation.
In the main, mental defectives are admitted to Harperbury Hospital,
near St. Albans and to a lesser extent at Leavesdon Hospital, Abbots
Langley.
Maternity Hospitals.
Most of the expectant mothers from this district who wish to be
confined in hospital are admitted to the maternity ward of the Edgware
General Hospital (sixty beds), or to the Bushey Maternity Hospital (thirtysix
lying-in and fourteen ante-natal beds) which lies just outside the
northern boundary of the district and which is an annexe to the Edgware
General Hospital. Just over the boundary in another direction in