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26
Rehousing of Tuberculous Families.
Your Council continued to allocate ten per cent. of all
available houses for special rehousing on medical grounds.
Recommendations have been confined to urgent cases of pulmonary
tuberculosis and Dr. Sorley, the Tuberculosis Officer, has
again co-operated enthusiastically in the Scheme.
The Housing Manager in making a special report to your
Council remarked that in order to safeguard the interests of the
Council as landlord a very large number of cases had to be rejected
by the Lettings Committee. Mr. West pointed out that larger
houses than would ordinarily be required will have to be offered
if the patient is to have a bedroom for his or her sole use. The
larger house entails higher rent and reduction in the amount)
available for adequate nutrition. This danger, he considered,
could probably be reduced by allotting a type of house normal
to the size of the family and providing a shelter for the patient.
The matter was taken up with the County Medical Officer who
pointed out that such shelters could only be provided when
ancillary to the treatment of the disease and that five shelters
were at that time provided by the County Council for the use of
Walthamstow patients. It was further pointed out that there
was no assurance that the shelter would be used in inclement
weather.
Shelters can also be provided bv the Borough Council under
Article 12 (1) of the Public Health (Tuberculosis) Regulations,
1930.
A suggestion was then made to the County Medical Officer
that the County Council, as the Authority responsible for the
treatment of tuberculosis, should bear any loss of rent which
might accrue to the Borough Council in the event of the latter
Authority rehousing cases of tuberculosis which would otherwise
have to be rejected owing to inability to pay the rent of a Council
house. Up to the present, the County Council have not admitted
this principle.
The whole matter was discussed at a meeting with Dr. Sorley,
Tuberculosis Officer, and the Housing Manager and it was
agreed that the Tuberculosis Officer would recommend the provision
of shelters in suitable cases where the patients could not
pay the normal rent of a Council house of suitable size. Your
Council later agreed to provide a bell service between the house
and the shelter in order to overcome any possible complaint as
to lack of means of communication.
Mr. West reports that since the inception of the scheme under
which ten per cent. of houses have been available for tuberculous
patients the following number of cases have been dealt with in
the manner shown up to the end of 1933:—