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There is usually a waiting list for the Dagenham Sanatorium
and for the Children's Sanatorium at Langdon Hills.
At present there are some vacant beds at the Fever Hospital,
but obviously these can only be used for infectious cases, and it is
exceptional that they are not fully occupied.
There are some 140 chronic sick cases boarded out at institutions
in London by the Public Assistance Committee, and the fact
that these cases have had to be boarded out over a period of several
years shows that the present lack of accommodation is not
of recent origin.
In view of the above statements, any re-arrangement of beds
or transfer of cases could not to an appreciable degree lessen the
need for the provision of further institutional accommodation.
Many of the cases of Pulmonary Tuberculosis being treated at
Whipps Cross Hospital should be dealt with at Dagenham Sanatorium,
but insufficient accommodation at the latter institution
renders this impracticable.
Children are being treated in the same wards as adults, but
the lack of sufficient accommodation for children makes this unavoidable.
It must be borne in mind that each of the Voluntary Hospitals
in this area accept cases not only from West Ham but from all
the neighbouring districts, and that the number of beds available
for West Ham cases does not exceed an average of 60 per cent.
In regard to the institutions transferred under the Local
Government Act only 50 per cent. of the accommodation is available
for West Ham cases. The cases from Essex occupy 34 per
cent., and from East Ham 16 per cent.
The agreements between the West Ham County Borough
Council, the Essex County Council and the East Ham County
Borough Council provide for the admission of cases to the transferred
institutions from the three Authorities concerned on the
above-named approximate percentage, and the agreements extend
over a period of twenty-five years.
The amount of extra institutional accommodation necessary
to be provided by this Authority is therefore to a large extent
independent of the amount of increased accommodation which may
be provided by one or more of the participating Authorities; it is,
however, affected by any scheme for extension of the Voluntary
Hospitals.
A further important feature is the extent to which the large
Voluntary Hospitals of London are used by West Ham patients.
It will be seen on page 187 that some 10 per cent. of
West Ham deaths occur in such institutions; it is clear, therefore,
that a very considerable number of sick people make use of these
hospitals ; that this is so I can confirm from my personal communications
with the Authorities of the various London Hospitals
on cases from West Ham.
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