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the water pipes froze, the house was flooded, and the electric lighting
became dangerous. She still refused to leave her house which was now
quite uninhabitable, and accordingly application was made to a Magistrate
for a Removal Order. She was removed to Kingsmead, where
she remained until her death some months later. The second case was
that of an old lady, aged 82, who lived alone and who had fallen,
injuring her back, and had been unable to get up. She had remained
on the floor for some hours, and her general condition was poor. She
refused to consider admission to hospital and as it would have been
quite unsafe for her to be left alone application was made for a
Removal Order. This was granted and she was admitted to Barnes
Hospital the same day. Several other similar cases were dealt with,
but the patients were finally persuaded to leave their homes and
arrangements were made for their admission to suitable accommoda'
tion without recourse to compulsion.
Laundry Service.
The Council acts as an Agent for the County Council in providing
this service. It is confined exclusively to patients who are
incontinent, and articles laundered are limited to sheets and draw
sheets.
Although the number of cases served is small, the benefits to
exhausted relatives are enormous. It enables them to nurse at home
in comfort a patient who otherwise would have had to be admitted
to hospital.
Sheets are collected from the patients' homes every Tuesday and
Friday and at the same time an appropriate number of clean sheets
is issued. A charge of sixpence per sheet is made, which is no hardship,
since the cost is covered by a supplementary allowance where
patients are in receipt of National Assistance.
SECTION 'F — PREVALENCE OF, AND CONTROL OVER,
INFECTIOUS AND OTHER DISEASES
Dysentery.
In the autumn of 1962 there were outbreaks of a mild form of
dysentery due to Shigella sonnei, mainly affecting two local primary
schools. These outbreaks threw a great deal of work on the Public
Health Inspectors and were only controlled after a prolonged period.
The 43 cases notified by General Practitioners in 1963 all originated
from the outbreaks which commenced in the previous year.
There is no doubt that the spread of this disease in schools is
greatly influenced by the possibility or otherwise of a strict handwashing
routine by pupils after using the toilet and before taking a