[Report 1936] / Medical Officer of Health, Lanchester R.D.C.

  • Lanchester (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1936
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1936] / Medical Officer of Health, Lanchester R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    45/52 (page 43)
    PROPOSED NEW HOSPITAL FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES.— Considerable preliminary progress has been made with this scheme and the present plans provide for a modern hospital with the necessary medical and nursing staff to deal with all notifiable infectious diseases. It is proposed to utilise Langley Park Hospital for Smallpox after the new hospital has been provided. The new building will provide for 146 patients and separate ward blocks will be available for pneumonia, scarlet fever, diphtheria, complicated cases of measles and whooping-cough. A sufficiency of single bed cubicle accommodation has been provided for, to make the possibility of cross infections arising the minimum obtainable. An up-to-date Nurses home is incorporated with the administration block with lecture and demonstration rooms so that recognition as a training school can be obtained. A well equipped laboratory and artificial sunlight apparatus and probably X-ray facilities together with a small operating theatre are provided for in the scheme, which when complete will provide N.W. Durham with one of the most modern small isolation hospitals in the Country. SCARLET FEVER.—This disease accounted for 158 of the total cases notified and generally speaking was “mild” in type. The same good features, the reduction of the number of return cases and the absence of serious complaints as were referred to in my report last year were again noticed and in my opinion the improvement is definitely associated with the cessation of overcrowding. There was 1 death in the 158 cases equal to a case mortality of 0.6 per cent. DIPHTHERIA.—I referred last year to the increase in the number of notifications of this disease in recent years. The number of cases this year was 96 and was practically the same as in 1935. Part of this increase is due to better notification and better diagnosis of mild cases, which prior to bacteriological assistance would have been overlooked. There were 5 deaths in these 96 cases, a case mortality of 5.2 per cent, which is a great improvement on the 10 per cent, and 11.1 per cent, of the previous two years. ENTERIC FEVER.—No cases of enteric fever were notified during the year, this being the second successive year without cases. DYSENTERY.—5 cases were notified during the 3^ear, 3 of which were in one house. There was 1 fatal case but there was no spread