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121
After Care.—Effort has been made by the Tuberculosis Care
Committee to carry out every duty possible under existing
circumstances.
The following is a summary of the work performed by the Committee during
the year ended 31st March, 1930:—
Number of new cases dealt with 356
(Of these, 237 were for assessment)
Number of old cases dealt with at Committee meetings 193
(Of these, 127 were for assessment or re-assessment)
Number of cases assisted 224
The amount of contributions collected by the Committee towards the cost of
the sanatorium treatment of 141 patients was £780 4s. 6d.
Number of Committee meetings held:—
Full Committee 11
Case Committees 12
Other meetings attended by the Secretary, 36.
The following extract from a letter addressed by Dr. F. C. Lewis, formerly
Chairman of the Tuberculosis Care Committee, to the Secretary to the Committee,
bears testimony to the value of the Committee's work:—
"After sixteen years as Chairman of your Committee, I feel I should
like to write a few lines of thanks and good wishes to all the members past
and present, and to you personally.
When I first joined the Committee in the early days of the War the work
and general outlook were but a tithe of what it is now. This is due, I am
sure, mainly to the unflagging zeal of the Secretaries, as well as to the
enthusiasm and real hard work of many of the members.
In early days the work was very little save assessment and visiting a
comparatively restricted group of cases; but gradually, as the powers and
outlook of the Committee increased, owing to its becoming a recognised
Sub-Committee of the Boroughs of Hackney and Stoke Newington, the scope
of the work increased also.
It has now become a co-ordinating centre for all the agencies, voluntary
and official, which can have any bearing on the welfare of the tubercular
patient and his surroundings and dependants.
It is concerned not only with getting patients treated in Sanatoria and
elsewhere, but also with their after-care. In fact, every means by which the
treatment of patients can be expedited or their outlook improved are its concern.
Many a case would never have gone to Sanatorium at all, or even continued
to attend the Dispensary, had not the Committee, through the Secretary
and voluntary workers, helped by persuasion, gifts of clothing, maintenance,
etc., as well as by warnings of the danger in refusing treatment."
Disinfection.—Disinfection of rooms and their contents is
offered in all cases of pulmonary tuberculosis after death or removal
to hospital or sanatoria.
Public Health (Prevention of Tuberculosis) Regulations, 1925.—
These Regulations confer powers upon local authorities enabling
them to prevent persons suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis from
entering the milk trade and to require persons to discontinue any
occupation involving the handling of milk when they are found to
be suffering from the disease in an infective stage.
Fortunately, it has not been necessary to take formal action
under the Regulations.