[Report 1924] / Medical Officer of Health, County of Zetland (Shetland Islands).

  • Shetland (Scotland). County Council.
Date:
1924
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1924] / Medical Officer of Health, County of Zetland (Shetland Islands). Source: Wellcome Collection.

    16/36 (page 14)
    “Suggestions.—That first of all the public should be made to realise the danger and prevalence of this disease; and that most of the public funds set aside for health purposes should be directed against Tuberculosis. “Accommodation joy Cases.—Plans have been submitted to the Board for the election of a glass open-air balcony, as an ex- tension to the Gilbert Bain Hospital, Lerwick. This will, if erected, supply a certain demand for the treatment of surgical Tuberculosis, where patients can be fitted and educated to appar- atus and the healing process at any rate commenced. “This will not, however, help the pulmonary cases. “Service.—If any suggestion can be entertained, it is that, if an extra trained nurse is engaged for the Gilbert Bain Hospital—as will probably be the case when the open-air balcony is completed— she shall be a qualified orthopaedic nurse who understands mas- sage and plaster work. 1 hat she will be maintained partly by the Tuberculosis Committee, and shall have duties which include visit- ing patients who are in apparatus after their departure from hospi- tal. She would also be extremely valuable for the after-treat- ment of the great number of accident cases that occur here. “The nursing of patients in plaster, and patients in apparatus such as spinal frames, is a highly specialised work, and good results can be obtained only when the patients are made absolutely comfortable. “A woman of this kind would be of inestimable value in keep- ing these patients comfortable, and in generally supervising their activities and condition during the long enforced convalescence. “Further Developments.—A great need in the Islands is a small Pathological Laboratory to enable the surgeon to do some of the simpler pathological work, e.g., pus examination, sputum, blood counts, sections, blood estimations, etc. There is no pro- vision at all for pathological investigations, and the surgeon finds himself at a great handicap in having to rely in even7 case on a purely clinical diagnosis. “In conclusion I would say that the service in the Islands for general medical and surgical conditions, as given by the local practitioners, is excellent until it comes to Tuberculosis. Here, with the housing and the climate, the local men can do little or nothing without some well-equipped institution to help them.” Treatment. (i) Institutional.—To Sanatoria in Scotland, seven patients were admitted during the year, and five remained at December 31. Five patients were admitted to the Gilbert Bain Hospital, but none remained at 31st December. At the Sana- torium Wards of the Combination Hospital, treatment was again interfered with by the mild outbreak of scarlet fever, principally in Lerwick Burgh.