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16
Laundry.
A new Laundry has been built on the west end of the Disinfecting Block, and has been equipped with
electrically operated washing machines. Steam is supplied from the boiler of the disinfecting plant.
Sewage Disposal Plant.
Formerly earth closets were used throughout the Hospital. The Cubicle Block, Nurses' Home and
Porter's Cottage have now been provided with a water-carriage system and a small sewage-purification
plant has been built. The hospital site is below high-water mark in the River and therefore, in order to
be able to discharge the effluent into the River, it is necessary to pump the sewage into tanks delivering
on to a filter bed some 5 feet above ground level.
Gardener's Store and Incinerator.
The two older ward blocks are still provided with earth closets. It has therefore been necessary to
retain the incinerator which has been rebuilt behind a small new building providing accommodation for the
storing, cleansing and lime-washing of pails, and a gardener's store.
Grounds.
The Corporation has made a grant of £1,000 out of the City's Cash for the improvement of the Hospital
grounds. This has been spent in laying out a formal garden between the Nurses' Home and the Cubicle
Wards and in raising the level of the ground over about one quarter of the site by tipping loam to an average
depth of 3 feet. When this has been levelled, grass has been grown and trees planted, the appearance of
the grounds will be greatly improved, and this section will no longer be water-logged throughout the winter.
(e) Ambulance Transport.
The Boarding Launch " Howard Deighton " and the Upper Biver Launch
" Frederick Whittingham " have given excellent service and are economical in
running cost. The Middle River Launch " James Howell " is, however, approaching
the end of her career. She is a wooden launch with a petrol engine, and was built in
1923. She was designed for work at Gravesend, not only to carry the Sanitary
Inspector on his visits to ships in the Lower District, but also to land crews for bathing
and their bedding and effects for disinfection at Denton Hospital. All this work is
now carried out by your Boarding Launch, the " Howard Deighton," and the
" James Howell " is used by the Sanitary Inspector in the Middle River District,
except when the " Howard Deighton " is out of commission. The " James Howell "
then returns to her old duties and the Medical Officers board from the Customs
Launch. When a new Launch is built she should be of steel, and be fitted with
Diesel-type engines, and, while not being so big as to be uneconomical in her ordinary
duties of carrying the Sanitary Inspector to vessels lying in the River between
Greenwich and Purfleet, she should be of sufficient size and strength to take over the
work of a Boarding Launch at Gravesend whenever the " Howard Deighton " is
out of commission.
(f) Supervision of Contacts.
No changes have been made in the arrangements described in my Reports for the
years 1933 and 1934.
Arrangements for the Bacteriological or Pathological Examination of
Rats for Plague.
Arrangements made for other Bacteriological or Pathological Examination.
Arrangements for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Venereal Diseases
amongst Sailors.
Arrangements for the Interment of the Dead.
All remain as reported in detail in 1933.