Annual report : 1943 / Staffordshire, Wolverhampton and Dudley Joint Committee for Tuberculosis.

  • Staffordshire, Wolverhampton and Dudley Joint Committee for Tuberculosis
Date:
1943
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report : 1943 / Staffordshire, Wolverhampton and Dudley Joint Committee for Tuberculosis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    separate bedroom for each patient. Out of 2,383 cases investigated as to domiciliary conditions, only 56.8 per cent. of patients were able to have a bed to themselves ; 39.1 per cent. shared a bed with one other person, and in 4.1 per cent. cases a bed was shared with more than one person. Although the figures just quoted are still low, there was an improvement in housing conditions during the years before the war, for in 1928 only 25.1 per cent. patients had separate bedrooms, whilst in 1942 the figure was 47.5. I am glad to note this fact, for at one time the figures appeared to be stationary and, but for the tact and initiative of the Health Visitors in persuading householders to re-arrange the living accommodation, I have no doubt that there would be an even smaller proportion of patients with separate bedrooms. This question of housing as it affects tuberculous patients is bound up with all public health activities and the practice of preventive medicine, and with the amount of work that is undertaken by Local Authorities in housing generally. TABLE 7. Bedroom Accommodation of Dispensary Patients. Total Separate beds but Rooms Cases | Having separate Shared with Beds shared with Shelters in exclud- bedrooms use December ing One More than one One More than one | 3lst, 1942 Shelters a | Per Per Per Per Per No. | Cent.| No. | Cent.| No. | Cent. | No. | Cent. | No. | Cent. 2,383 {1,133 | 47.5 | 105 | 4.4] 116) 4.9 | 9311) 39.1 98 | 4.1 sed Observation Cases.—As in former years, the Tuberculosis Officers sent difficult cases to the residential institutions for observation when the diagnosis could not be determined at the dispensaries. In this way 13 cases were dealt with in 1942, of which 5 proved to be suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis and 6 to be non-tuberculous, whilst 2 cases remained undiagnosed at the end of the year ; in addition, 7 cases of suspected non-pulmonary tuberculosis were admitted to Standon Hall. Six of these proved tuberculous, and the remaining case was still under observation at the end of the year. X-Ray Examinations.—The Tuberculosis Officers have continued to-make full use of the installations provided by the Joint Board. Serial X-Ray examinations, both by screening and the taking of skiagrams, are esssential to ensure the best results from pneumothorax treatment. The following table shows the number of skiagrams and screenings made during the year in each area :— Wolverhampton. Dudley. Stafford. Newcastle. Skiagrams . ye .. 1,479 1,503 762 537 Screen Examinations .. Pee aie ee 541 + 463 435 The service of Consultant Radiologists is available in each area and at the Sanatoria. In the search for signs of early disease, other conditions than tuberculosis are frequently found and it is here that the opinion of an independent Radiologist is valuable.
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