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41
ISOLATION HOSPITAL.
In last year's report I pointed out, that owing to the large capital
expenditure involved and the heavy yearly expenditure—over £6,000—
incurred in the maintenance and upkeep of the Sanatorium, further
extension, under present conditions, was not necessary.
I pointed out the difficulties experienced in the control of such a
disease as Scarlet Fever, whose very mildness in some cases lead
parents to ignore and the doctor to doubt its existence.
I showed how it is not yet satisfactorily explained why it should
occur at one time in an epidemic form and at another fails to spread
even amongst the most susceptible persons—the general conditions
being apparently alike—and I urged that to minimise the volume of
Scarlet Fever infection what is needed is a strict supervision of our
school children, the co-operation of the parents and teachers and a
reasonable number of beds for first cases, rather than the provision of
a large hospital with beds for every possible case that may arise.
This view met with your approval.
During the past year the number of cases of Scarlet Fever and
Diphtheria were practically fewer than in any previous year, and this
satisfactory record is no doubt largely due to the willing and intelligent
co-operation of the teachers and the attendance officers with those to
whom the public health work of the town is entrusted.
As a result the Hospital accommodation was far beyond what was
needed, and during several months of the year more than two pavilions
were empty.
The possibility of using the vacant beds for other purposes was
discussed, but the risk was too great to assume that the favourable
conditions of 1910 would be permanent, or that with a constant
population of 26,000 school children, 30 per cent. of whom migrate
yearly from and to other districts, our present Hospital accommodation
could be curtailed.
The report of the Resident Medical Officer will be read with interest,
showing as it does the advantages and necessity of our Cubicle Block,
and what an important part it plays in the efficient and economical
management of the Hospital.
We have now had five years' experience of the treatment of patients
suffering from Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria, Measles, Whooping Cough and
Chicken Pox, placed side by side and under the same roof, the same
nurses and doctor in attendance, and in not a single instance has
infection been conveyed from one patient to another.