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It can be safely assumed that the demand for institutional
beds will increase when admission to the institution is no longer
associated, as it now is, with the taint of pauperism.
There are, in this Borough, many bed-ridden people suffering
from incurable diseases, who rather than enter a Poor Law
Institution remain at home, although they cannot be properly
cared for there, and where the health of their relatives is often
undermined by the distress and extra work involved. Most of
these patients are suffering from disabilities which render them
quite unsuitable for admission to a voluntary hospital; they are
essentially suitable for institutions such as the Central Home.
In regard to the number of beds that will be required, the
long waiting lists for admission to voluntary hospitals must be
duly considered and also the fact that a number of doctors refrain
from advising hospital treatment in cases where they know that
there is little likelihood of admittance within a reasonable time.
The position of the voluntary hospitals and their work in
relation to any new schemes proposed must not be over-looked.
A convalescent home is often a valuable asset in regard to
relieving pressure upon hospital beds.
It should be remembered also that the district Medical Officers
and their work, including the sick poor who are being treated in
their homes, will come under the ægis of the Public Health
Service, as will also the responsibility for infant life protection,
vaccination, and other more or less minor matters.
This memorandum is only meant to be an incomplete and
rough indication of some of the immensely important and far
reaching changes which are impending and to intimate the lines
along which a complete scheme may be prepared when the necessary
major details are settled.
The best method of allotment in regard to the different types
of sick persons, of the institutions and beds available, the establishment
of facilities for the treatment of special diseases and the
extension of home nursing, are a few of many problems which will
arise in due course in the natural evolution of the new schemes
which must of necessity be inaugurated.
F. GARLAND COLLINS,
Medical Officer of Health.
November, 1929.
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