[Report 1920] / Medical Officer of Health, County of Zetland (Shetland Islands).

  • Shetland (Scotland). County Council.
Date:
1920
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1920] / Medical Officer of Health, County of Zetland (Shetland Islands). Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    !9 a careful watch is kept on doubtful cases which are helped in all permissable ways. It is scarcely possible to disentangle a great deal of this work from that of the Child Welfare Scheme, or School Medical Work. In the country districts all District Nurses (not many as yet) will be asked to do' similar duties, but no centres can at present be suggested to which patients or contacts could con- gregate. This will be apparent to anyone knowing the local geography. These nurses are controlled by Nursing Associations and supported, mainly by subscriptions. Grants are obtained from the Highlands and Islands section of the Board. It is proposed that all District Nurses should act as School, Tuber- culosis and Child Welfare workers and that grants to' their Association funds should be made by the bodies concerned. This matter has been already under the Board’s notice (I.D.B. 94821 25/5/20). 3. Housing. The homes of many patients are unsatisfactory. In such cases the County Sanitary Inspector will be asked to visit with a view to taking all possible steps to improve their condition. 4. Cattle. Reports are conflicting, but the County Veterinary Surgeon is of opinion that much tuberculosis exists. No concrete proposals can be made at present as to remedies, but the question will be kept before the County Council. 5. Treatment. (a)—Institutional. The only premises at present avail- able are the wards recently erected at the Combination Fever Hospital, where a few late and early cases are at present accommodated. No maintenance grant has as yet been received, nor have the Board signified their official approval of this course. It is proposed to erect a sanatorium adjacent to the Gilbert Bain Hospital with a Nurses Home, Laundry, Laboratory, Mortuary, etc, common to both institutions. The matron of the Gilbert Bain Hospital, it is proposed, could supervise the staff and finance could be simplified by the County Council paying the Trustees of the Gilbert Bain Hospital for services of staff and maintenance of patients. Two separate staffs in a small town would thus be avoided. Early and late cases could be here dealt with. A few selected cases might need to be sent south either to a sana- torium with the Committee of which some arrangement is