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9
Gone is the exclusive use of the hospital for infectious diseases,
the sanatorium for tuberculosis at Woodford, and the Chest Clinic.
Gone is the great boon to the borough in the lien on half ownership
of the Runwell Mental Hospital now transferred as a leading south
of England research and mental treatment centre under the
Regional "Hospital Board. Tolmers Park Hospital where our
chronic sick could find respite from their sufferings amidst idyllic
surroundings is available no longer. The benefits of these carefully
planned and ably administered institutions are now shared
in true democratic manner with neighbouring boroughs which,
through lack of funds, forethought or initiative, made no such
provision for themselves. As a result, there is a four-fold increase
in waiting time for admission of adults to sanatorium, and great
difficulty is experienced in finding beds in hospital for cases of
chronic sickness, and we are beginning to feel the pinch in the
disposition of mental and mentally defective patients in available
institutions.
On the credit side, children suffering from all forms of
tuberculosis are more expeditiously placed in appropriate
institutions and the home help and home nursing services have been
augmented to assist households burdened by the presence of acute
or chronic illness
The comprehensive free ambulance service has also remedied
an outstanding social need, whilst the strengthening of the
maternity and child welfare service has already been noted in
effecting signal advances in health education. For the time
being the Aldersbrook Maternity Hospital is still available
exclusively for the use of East Ham mothers, and is administered
by the Health Committee.
Lastly, plans are being formulated for the establishment of
health centres, the focal points of community medical practice of
the future, where general practitioners and local authority staffs
will work together in harmony under one roof for the first time,
to give a comprehensive medical service to every family in the
borough.
The loan cupboard service for nursing equipment and medical
and surgical ancillaries will further increase the benefit and
efficiency of sick nursing within the home.
Arrangements for the prevention of illness in the provision of
convalescence and short-stay recuperative rests in suitable country
and seaside homes for both children and adults, together with the