Report on the health of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea for the year 1925.

  • Battersea (London, England). Metropolitan Borough.
Date:
[1926]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Report on the health of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea for the year 1925. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    67/148 (page 59)
    59 Battersea Tuberculosis Dispensary. The Battersea Tuberculosis Dispensary, taken over in 1921 from the Voluntary Organisation, is situated at 179 Bridge Road. The premises there are, however, regarded as unsuitable, and a new Dispensary building, for which the plans and specifications have been prepared, and after some modifications have been approved by the Ministry of Health, is to be erected. It is hoped that the new building will be completed in the Autumn of 1926. It is very badly needed as the existing Dispensary, an adapted private house, is inadequate and otherwise unsuitable for the purpose. The new Dispensary has been planned to meet all the requirements of a modern tuberculosis dispensary, and when ready for the admission of patients will prove a most useful addition to the provision already made by the Council for health services in the Borough. The Dispensary is affiliated to St. Thomas's Hospital, which provides facilities for difficulties in diagnosis, e.g., X-ray examina tion, cases necessitating artificial pneumothorax refills, &c. Co operation with other hospitals is maintained, and patients attending for examination at the Dispensary and found to be suffering from conditions requiring treatment other than tuberculosis, are referred to appropriate institutions. The staff of the Dispensary consists of a Tuberculosis Medical Officer, 3 Nurses, Secretary, Typist, Dispenser and Caretakers (man and wife). Dental facilities for Tuberculosis patients attending the Dis pensary were provided by the Council in 1922. A weekly session is held at the Dental Clinic, Plough Road, and patients requiring treatment or the provision of dentures are referred to the Clinic by the Tuberculosis Medical Officer. The London County Council is responsible for the Institutional treatment of tuberculosis in the County of London (hospital, sanatorium, &c.), and arrangements are made for the Institutional treatment of Battersea patients through the Dispensary. Ad vanced cases are removed to St. James' Hospital under the Guar dians of the Wandsworth Union or other appropriate institutions. Co-operation with medical practitioners has been maintained, and increasing use is being made by Medical men practising in the Borough of the facilities provided at the Tuberculosis Dispensary for diagnosis in difficult and doubtful cases. As far as possible the Dispensary follows its main role, viz., that of a centre for diagnosis. Cordial co-operation between the Tuberculosis Dispensary Medical Staff and local medical practitioners is regarded as a matter of prime importance in any efficient dispensary scheme for the preven tion of Tuberculosis, and the relations shown in the following figures to exist between the Dispensary Staff and local doctors is most satisfactory. During 1925 the consultations with Medical practitioners numbered 898, and during the 4 years 1921-1924, the numbers were 1921, 460, 1922, 625, 1923, 574, and 1924, 736.