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163
INSTITUTIONAL TREATMENT.
The London County Council is responsible for all Institutional
treatment of patients suffering from tuberculosis, and all patients so
suffering spend some of their time in a Hospital or Sanatorium during the
course of their disease. The Dispensary acts as a Clearing Station and is
responsible for recommending patients to the L.C.C. at the appropriate
time.
In August, 1934, the L.C.C. decided that all Institutional treatment
for tuberculous patients for whom they were responsible should not be
subjected to any payment whatever on the part of the patient or his
family. The object being that the financial strain of payment in some
cases might hinder the patient's recovery by preventing adequate supplies
of necessary nourishment.
In certain cases it is necessary for the patients to undergo a period
of observation in a Special Hospital for Diseases of the Chest before a
final diagnosis can be made. Such patients are usually sent to Brompton
Hospital. This Hospital also accepts early cases of tuberculosis, and cases
requiring specialised surgical treatment. High Wood Hospital admits
children for observation and diagnosis and definite cases of Pulmonary
Tuberculosis.
The great majority of cases are sent to Sanatorium as soon as a
diagnosis is completed. Sanatorium routine is the mainstay of all
treatment of tuberculosis and of great educational value after the patient's
discharge as he has then been taught the mode of life which gives him the
best chance of maintaining the improvement in his health which he has
gained while being away.
General Hospital treatment is usually advised for those patients
whose condition is so acute or advanced that removal to a sanatorium is
inadvisable, but it must be remembered that many of these patients
improve so much after a few months in a general hospital that they are
subsequently transferred to a sanatorium.
General Hospitals also accept chronic cases who are not expected to
benefit from a further period of Sanatorium treatment.
Another type of Institutional treatment is the Sanatorium Colony—
Papworth near Cambridge, Preston Hall near Maidstone. Papworth
takes both male and female adult patients, and Preston Hall takes male
patients only. After a suitable period of Sanatorium routine the patients