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11
In August the condition of the Hulk "Hygeia," your Boarding Station at
Gravesend, gave cause for anxiety. The vessel was surveyed by consulting engineers,
who reported that she was in a very bad condition both forward and aft; that it
would be waste of money to carry out any repairs ; that there was no immediate
danger of her sinking at her moorings, but that steps should be taken to replace her
within twelve months. There appeared to be some prospect that the Customs Jetty
at Gravesend would be reconstructed, and that accommodation for your Boarding
Launch might be available at a new and longer jetty, the Medical Officer on duty
being berthed ashore; but later it became evident that several years might elapse
before this scheme could be put into effect, meanwhile the "Hygeia" would
undoubtedly have broken up. You therefore decided that the only course open to
you was to purchase another hull and lit it up as a Boarding Station.
The Office accommodation of your Inspectors in the West India and the Royal
Docks had not been satisfactory as, at the time when the provision was made, there
was very limited choice in these two districts. In March more suitable Offices became
available, and these your Committee decided to rent from the Port of London Authority.
Further improvements have been carried out at your Hospital at Denton. An
old ward block, built in 1888 and providing 10 beds, has been demolished, and a new
block comprising 8 cubicles has been erected. A large Isolation Hospital is not
necessary in the Port of London, but provision must be made for (a) the special
isolation of cases of Small-pox, (b) the accommodation of a number of cases of any
other infectious disease when an epidemic has occurred on board ship, (c) single cases
of the common Infectious Diseases such as Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria, Typhoid Fever,
Measles, &c., and for cases of sickness which must be kept under observation before
a definite diagnosis can be made; for on board ship the examination of a patient has
frequently to be carried out under very unfavourable conditions, the available history
of the illness is often very vague, and the patient may not be able to convey to the
Medical Officer any account of his symptoms.
Your Isolation Hospital is conveniently situated in close proximity to the Boarding
Station, and is now designed to meet the above requirements. Special isolation for
Small-pox is provided in a small building surrounded by a wire fence near the Eastern
boundary of the Hospital and comprising 2 wards each containing 4 beds. When a
small epidemic of any other infectious disease has occurred on board ship the cases
can be accommodated in the central ward block, where there are 2 wards containing
8 and 4 beds respectively. The usual requirement is, however, for the isolation and
treatment of several cases of several different infectious diseases from as many ships.
The patients may be passengers of either sex and of any age, or members of crews,
British or foreign, white or coloured. It is for this, the ordinary day by day work of
the Hospital, that the Cubicle Ward is particularly suitable.
The wards of your Hospital are now suitably arranged, well equipped and provide
all the accommodation which past experience has shown to be necessary, but the
Administration Block, the Laundry, Sewage Disposal Plant and the Grounds still
require attention, and your Worshipful Committee proposes to deal with them during
1935.
Through the generosity of the Corporation of the City of London, you have been
able to replace the old, unsightly wooden fence along the river front of the Hospital
by a reinforced concrete wall 15 feet high of substantial construction and imposing
appearance.
The inspection of imported food is an important part of the work of the Authority,
and during 1934, 1,825 tons of foodstuffs were condemned as unfit for human
consumption and were either destroyed or disposed of for industrial purposes.
The proportion of carcases of mutton examined for Caseous Lymphadenitis
remained at 5 per cent. throughout the year; pieces of mutton continued to be
subjected to 100 per cent. examination. A proportion of frozen ox tongues imported
from South America was examined on arrival, the percentage found to be affected
with Actinobacillosis being 0.61.