[Report 1898] / Medical Officer of Health, Ashford U.D.C.

  • Ashford (Kent, England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: [Report 1898] / Medical Officer of Health, Ashford U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    3/8 (page 3)
    Sanatorium possesses no redeeming feature, and many serious defects. The absence of a proper water supply on the premises is a most serious defect, as a plentiful supply is of prime necessity in a hospital for the treatment of infectious diseases where large quantities are used for baths and washing, itc. When water has to be hauled a distance of a mile, as in this case, occasions are likely to arise with more or less frequency of the supplies on the premises suddenly running short with prejudicial results to the sanitaiT arrangements. Another and quite as serious defect is the in- ability to safely treat more than one kind of infectious disea.se on the premises at one time. I am quite aware that during the past year on two occasions Diphtheria cases were admitted whilst Scarlet Fever was under treatment in the Hospital and that no evil result followed, but I also know that the Medical Officer at that time was very apprehensive lest such evil results should occur, and that the Diphtheria cases were only admitted because it was impossible otherwise to isolate them. It is, I am sure, incurring a grave risk to treat two infectious diseases at tlie same time in our Sanatorium, and I should onlj^ consent to the risk being taken under circumstances of the gravest urgency. This defect calls for our serious consideration at the present time when the Vaccination Acts have been so altered as to render the occurrence of Small-Pox a much more likely event than it has been in the past. There are, I know, several difficulties in the way of building a permanent and up-to-date Infectious Hospital, but I hope that the Council will make up their minds to face these difficulties and surmount them during the present year, or we may hud ourselves suddenly in the position of having to deal wiih concurrent outbreaks of Small-Pox and Scarlet Fever, and having no adequate means of isolating the cases from one another and the general public respectively. During my four months of office I have made 15 visits to houses in the district for the purpose of inquiring into the causes of infectious disease and examining the sanitary condition of the premises.