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15
There is a considerable amount of good surgical and medical work
carried on within the Hospital, but the method of selecting the Staff, the
want of an adequate Staff to the Out-patient Department, and the
absence of a resident Medical Officer, all militate against its usefulness,
and are the cause of its failure to inspire that confidence in the public
which is so readily given to the West Ham, Tottenham and London
General Hospitals.
It fails to be the centre which focuses all the best medical and
surgical work of the District.
The Governing Body are gentlemen ot good standing, who take
a great interest in the Hospital, and run it on economical lines and
jealously guard its voluntary character, but the march of modern ideas
demands a readjustment.
Combination of the Public Health Authority with the Governors and
supporters of the Hospital might make the place a real centre for carrying
out the best work in medicine and surgery, combined with the work
now undertaken by the Council for Maternity and Child Welfare, and
by the Education Authority on behalf of children up to fourteen years
of age.
At present there exists no co-ordination in the work carried out at the
Hospital and that of the Dispensary, the Child Welfare Centres nor the
School Clinics." (Annual Report, 1919).
WALTHAMSTOW DISPENSARY.
This Institution is situated in Hoe Street, in the centre of the District,
and, in addition to the usual medical work, the Staff now undertake, on
behalf of the subscribers and Education Committee, the surgical treatment
of Enlarged Tonsils and Adenoids, and that of Ringworm by
X-rays. School children suffering from Discharging Ears are also treated
at the Dispensary.
All the operative work undertaken for the Education Committee has
been carried out satisfactorily.
One member of the Staff attends for a few hours daily, and the
Dispensary is very popular with the mothers of our school children, and
has a good reputation among the public.
There are no beds attached to the Institution, and the arrangement
of the premises with its accommodation for Doctors, Patients and
Nurses is poor and inadequate and militates against its usefulness.
According to the 1920 Annual Report, 1,318 patients, making 4,039
attendances, were treated during the year, an increase of 186 patients
and 576 attendances as compared with 1919.
All patients need to have a letter of recommendation, and each pays
fourpence per week, to cover the cost of physic, while under treatment.