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The Welsh Branch
86
PUBLIC
(b) The number of cases to b e seen at maternity and child welfare and ante-natal clinics. (c) Post-graduate education. On the proposal of Dr. Charles Sanders it was resolved that the congratulations of the Branch be c o n v e y e d to l.ieut.-Colonel Fremantle and Captain Eltiston on being elected to Parliament. Dr. G. F. Buchan conveyed to Dr. IZ. E. Tapper, o.g.t~., the thanks of the Branch for the able manner in whictl he had occupied the presidential chair during the past year.
THE WELSH BRANCH. President: I)r. E. L1. Parry-Edwards, County ~:.~J.~., Carnarvdnshire.
Hon. Necretary:
Dr. D.
J. Thomas, Deputy t~l.o.,L,
Rhondda.
The inaugural meeting o.f the session 1931-82 of this Branch was held at the City Hall, Cardiff, on October 9th, 1981. Eighteen members attended, and Mr. Howell E. James (Welsh Board of Health) was a welcome visitor. Dr. Howard-Jones (Newport) occupied lhe chair in the regretted absence, owing to illhealth, of the retiring Presidenl, Dr. ParryEdwards. On the recommendation of the Branch Council, it was .decided that the Sub-Group be asked to nominate tw0. representatives to serve on the Council of the Branch. A letter from the Executive Secretary in regard to the proposed revision of the Articles of Association of tim Society was referred to the Branch Council. Dr. Howard-Jones, in a short appropriate speech, called upon Dr. D. A: Powell (Principal Medical Officer, The K i n g Edward V I I W e l s h National Memorial Association) to occupy the presidential chair of the Branch for the session and, on assuming the chair, Dr. Powelt thanked t h e - m e m b e r s for the honour conferred upon him. As the subject of his presidential address, Dr. Powell chose the title " Some Other Countries and Their Tuberculosis, '' and recounted his experiences as a member of the group of tuberculosis of~cers which recently toured Canada and the United States. P a > ticularly in regard to Canada, the influence of the constitution and distribution of the population and of housing and atmgspheric conditions were briefly noted, and the Tuberculosis Service in the Dominion was fully
HEALTH.
D~CEm3ER,
described, it was emphasised that, though the administrative arrangements were not so well developed, the clinical service,provided was quite as good, whilst the institutional accommodation fo.r cases of tuberculosis was in most respects ahead of that found in the mother country. Figures were quoted which showed that the number of beds provided in Canada per 100 annual deaths from tuberculosis was nearly double the corresponding number provided in this country, thus illustrating in a practical manner the dictum of the President of the Canadian Association for the Prevention of Tubercutosisthat " the very foundation of all anti-tuberculosis work is beds." The Tuberculosis Service in Chicago was also described, and it was noted that amongst the preventive measures adopted were the almost complete hospitalisation of open cases, the removal of children under 16 years of age from houses wherein open cases }-esided, the boycott of such open cases refusing institutional treatment by means of placards, and the imposition of the legal duty to. notify upon any person, whether a medical practitioner or not. Cases of surgical tuberculosis were rare, possibly on account of the universal practice of pasteurising milk used for human consumption, and an interesting piece of research work was quoted which showed that non-pulmonary forms of tuberculosis, when they occurred, were almost invariably caused by the bovine type of tubercle bacillus .derived from unpasteurised m i l k . The increasing tendency for the replacement of clinical b y X-ray methods of examination was commented on, whils{, on an average, cases were detained in institutions fc~r considerably longer periods than in this country; treatment by " bed " as opposed to " absolute " rest was mo.re generally enforced, and " graduated " labour was not employed at all. Canadian and American doctors w-ere highly critical and, in the President's opinion, unjustifiably so, of the method of treatment by graduated rest and exercise initiated b y Paterson; it was noted that while prolonged rest may ultimately heal a lung, it may ruin the patient . and " what shall it profit a man if he regain a whole lung and lose his backbone ?" T h e President concluded his address with a tribute to Paterson, who directed the early medical destinies of the Welsh National Memorial Association and was the pioneer in methods of treatment which gave new hope to sufferers from tuberculosis.
1931.
PUBLIC
A hearty vote of thanks, proposed by Dr. Picken, seconded by Dr. Colston Williams and supported by Dr. T. :Evans, was accorded to the President for his Address. Dr. Powell, after ackno~wledging the vote of thanks, made a sympathetic reference to the illness of Dr. Parry-Edwards, which had deprived the meeting of his presence on that day, and it was decided that the sympathy and the good wishes of the Branch be conveyed to him.
THE WELSH BRANCH. ASSISTANT ~VIEDICAL OFFICERS' AND SCHOOL DENTISTS' SuB-GRoup.
Chairman : Dr.
C.
J.
McSweeney,
Deputy
M.O.H.,
Cardiff.
Hun.
Secretary :
Dr.
W.
E.
Crosbie,
Asst.
M.o.,
G l a m o r g a n C.C.
The tirst meeting of the session of this Sub-Group was held in the City Ilall, Cardiff, on October 28rd, 1931. The Chairman presided and there were seven members present. The Chairman and Hon. Secretary were appointed to represent the Sub-Group on the Branch Council. The Chairman gave his address on " The Diagnosis and Control of Variola Mino.r," which has been forwarded to the Hon. Editor of the Society's journal. A vo.te of thanks to Dr. McSweeney for his very interesting paper was proposed by Dr. Lawrence, seconded by Dr. D. P. Holmes, and carried by acclamation.
THE NORTH-WESTERN BRANCH. President: D r . . G . \V. N. Joseph, M.o.u., W a r r i n g t o n . Hon. Secretary: Dr. J. E. Spence, M.O.tI., Eccles.
A meeting of this Branch was held at Parker's Restaurant, Manchester, on November 13th, 1931, the President occup,~ing the chair. T h i r t y members were present, and apologies for absence were received fro.m thirteen. Before the meeting the members partook of a " h o,t-pot supper." An apology was received from Dr. F. A. Sharpe, of Preston, regretting his inability to be present owing to a death in his family, and the Hon. Secretary was instructed to convey tO Dr. Sharpe the s y m p a t h y .o.f the Branch With him in his bereavement. The nomination of Dr. Marguerite E. Cliff, Assistant School Medical Officer, Preston,, by Dr. F . A. Sharpe, seconded by the President,
HEALTH.
87
was submitted to the Branch, and the t-Ion. Secretary was instructed to forward it to the Executive Secretary with the recommendation of the Branch. A discussion on tile " Articles of Association of the Society of Medical Officers, '.o.f Health " was opened by Dr. R. Veitch Clark in the absence .o,f Dr. F. T. H. Wood, who was unable to be present. A letter from Dr. Wood, proposing that the Articles should be amended to provide for representation of the members on the Council only by medical officers o.f health holding active appointment, was read. Dr. R. Veitch Clark, in his opening remarks, referred to previous amendments of the Articles of Association, pointing out that prior to 1923, no provision was made for representation of clinical officers, and that the Council was not representative of the general body of members. Amendments were then made to remedy this .defect, and representation was given to clinical groups in the Society. The present 7A,rticles of Association now give representation to all groups, but they may not be represented in proportion to their membership. He was of the opinion that the proposal •made by Dr. W o o d was of first importance, and that a living Society should discard its inactive members. He thought paragraph 19 (d) had given rise to a great deal of discussion, and pointed out that its object was to ensure a majority of members on the Council who had held administrative posts in order to. maintain the idea o.f a homogeneous service. The medical officer of health, from the nature of his work, must be interested in all sections of the work and, therefore, representative of all groups, if he is doing his duty properly. The section was not inserted with a view to, limiting or neutralising group representation as has been asserted bv some members. The Council of the Society is mainly concerned in its association with o.utside bodies such as government departments, the British Medical Association, the County Councils' Association and similar bodies, and therefore sho.uld have as representatives a proportion of men of wide outlook holding administrative posts. The Articles of Association were then discussed s e r i a t i m , and the following amendments, after much discussion, were carried : - Article 3.--That the name of the Society be reconsidered to make it more representative of the whole
Society.
PUBLIC
(b) The number of cases to b e seen at maternity and child welfare and ante-natal clinics. (c) Post-graduate education. On the proposal of Dr. Charles Sanders it was resolved that the congratulations of the Branch be c o n v e y e d to l.ieut.-Colonel Fremantle and Captain Eltiston on being elected to Parliament. Dr. G. F. Buchan conveyed to Dr. IZ. E. Tapper, o.g.t~., the thanks of the Branch for the able manner in whictl he had occupied the presidential chair during the past year.
THE WELSH BRANCH. President: I)r. E. L1. Parry-Edwards, County ~:.~J.~., Carnarvdnshire.
Hon. Necretary:
Dr. D.
J. Thomas, Deputy t~l.o.,L,
Rhondda.
The inaugural meeting o.f the session 1931-82 of this Branch was held at the City Hall, Cardiff, on October 9th, 1981. Eighteen members attended, and Mr. Howell E. James (Welsh Board of Health) was a welcome visitor. Dr. Howard-Jones (Newport) occupied lhe chair in the regretted absence, owing to illhealth, of the retiring Presidenl, Dr. ParryEdwards. On the recommendation of the Branch Council, it was .decided that the Sub-Group be asked to nominate tw0. representatives to serve on the Council of the Branch. A letter from the Executive Secretary in regard to the proposed revision of the Articles of Association of tim Society was referred to the Branch Council. Dr. Howard-Jones, in a short appropriate speech, called upon Dr. D. A: Powell (Principal Medical Officer, The K i n g Edward V I I W e l s h National Memorial Association) to occupy the presidential chair of the Branch for the session and, on assuming the chair, Dr. Powelt thanked t h e - m e m b e r s for the honour conferred upon him. As the subject of his presidential address, Dr. Powell chose the title " Some Other Countries and Their Tuberculosis, '' and recounted his experiences as a member of the group of tuberculosis of~cers which recently toured Canada and the United States. P a > ticularly in regard to Canada, the influence of the constitution and distribution of the population and of housing and atmgspheric conditions were briefly noted, and the Tuberculosis Service in the Dominion was fully
HEALTH.
D~CEm3ER,
described, it was emphasised that, though the administrative arrangements were not so well developed, the clinical service,provided was quite as good, whilst the institutional accommodation fo.r cases of tuberculosis was in most respects ahead of that found in the mother country. Figures were quoted which showed that the number of beds provided in Canada per 100 annual deaths from tuberculosis was nearly double the corresponding number provided in this country, thus illustrating in a practical manner the dictum of the President of the Canadian Association for the Prevention of Tubercutosisthat " the very foundation of all anti-tuberculosis work is beds." The Tuberculosis Service in Chicago was also described, and it was noted that amongst the preventive measures adopted were the almost complete hospitalisation of open cases, the removal of children under 16 years of age from houses wherein open cases }-esided, the boycott of such open cases refusing institutional treatment by means of placards, and the imposition of the legal duty to. notify upon any person, whether a medical practitioner or not. Cases of surgical tuberculosis were rare, possibly on account of the universal practice of pasteurising milk used for human consumption, and an interesting piece of research work was quoted which showed that non-pulmonary forms of tuberculosis, when they occurred, were almost invariably caused by the bovine type of tubercle bacillus .derived from unpasteurised m i l k . The increasing tendency for the replacement of clinical b y X-ray methods of examination was commented on, whils{, on an average, cases were detained in institutions fc~r considerably longer periods than in this country; treatment by " bed " as opposed to " absolute " rest was mo.re generally enforced, and " graduated " labour was not employed at all. Canadian and American doctors w-ere highly critical and, in the President's opinion, unjustifiably so, of the method of treatment by graduated rest and exercise initiated b y Paterson; it was noted that while prolonged rest may ultimately heal a lung, it may ruin the patient . and " what shall it profit a man if he regain a whole lung and lose his backbone ?" T h e President concluded his address with a tribute to Paterson, who directed the early medical destinies of the Welsh National Memorial Association and was the pioneer in methods of treatment which gave new hope to sufferers from tuberculosis.
1931.
PUBLIC
A hearty vote of thanks, proposed by Dr. Picken, seconded by Dr. Colston Williams and supported by Dr. T. :Evans, was accorded to the President for his Address. Dr. Powell, after ackno~wledging the vote of thanks, made a sympathetic reference to the illness of Dr. Parry-Edwards, which had deprived the meeting of his presence on that day, and it was decided that the sympathy and the good wishes of the Branch be conveyed to him.
THE WELSH BRANCH. ASSISTANT ~VIEDICAL OFFICERS' AND SCHOOL DENTISTS' SuB-GRoup.
Chairman : Dr.
C.
J.
McSweeney,
Deputy
M.O.H.,
Cardiff.
Hun.
Secretary :
Dr.
W.
E.
Crosbie,
Asst.
M.o.,
G l a m o r g a n C.C.
The tirst meeting of the session of this Sub-Group was held in the City Ilall, Cardiff, on October 28rd, 1931. The Chairman presided and there were seven members present. The Chairman and Hon. Secretary were appointed to represent the Sub-Group on the Branch Council. The Chairman gave his address on " The Diagnosis and Control of Variola Mino.r," which has been forwarded to the Hon. Editor of the Society's journal. A vo.te of thanks to Dr. McSweeney for his very interesting paper was proposed by Dr. Lawrence, seconded by Dr. D. P. Holmes, and carried by acclamation.
THE NORTH-WESTERN BRANCH. President: D r . . G . \V. N. Joseph, M.o.u., W a r r i n g t o n . Hon. Secretary: Dr. J. E. Spence, M.O.tI., Eccles.
A meeting of this Branch was held at Parker's Restaurant, Manchester, on November 13th, 1931, the President occup,~ing the chair. T h i r t y members were present, and apologies for absence were received fro.m thirteen. Before the meeting the members partook of a " h o,t-pot supper." An apology was received from Dr. F. A. Sharpe, of Preston, regretting his inability to be present owing to a death in his family, and the Hon. Secretary was instructed to convey tO Dr. Sharpe the s y m p a t h y .o.f the Branch With him in his bereavement. The nomination of Dr. Marguerite E. Cliff, Assistant School Medical Officer, Preston,, by Dr. F . A. Sharpe, seconded by the President,
HEALTH.
87
was submitted to the Branch, and the t-Ion. Secretary was instructed to forward it to the Executive Secretary with the recommendation of the Branch. A discussion on tile " Articles of Association of the Society of Medical Officers, '.o.f Health " was opened by Dr. R. Veitch Clark in the absence .o,f Dr. F. T. H. Wood, who was unable to be present. A letter from Dr. Wood, proposing that the Articles should be amended to provide for representation of the members on the Council only by medical officers o.f health holding active appointment, was read. Dr. R. Veitch Clark, in his opening remarks, referred to previous amendments of the Articles of Association, pointing out that prior to 1923, no provision was made for representation of clinical officers, and that the Council was not representative of the general body of members. Amendments were then made to remedy this .defect, and representation was given to clinical groups in the Society. The present 7A,rticles of Association now give representation to all groups, but they may not be represented in proportion to their membership. He was of the opinion that the proposal •made by Dr. W o o d was of first importance, and that a living Society should discard its inactive members. He thought paragraph 19 (d) had given rise to a great deal of discussion, and pointed out that its object was to ensure a majority of members on the Council who had held administrative posts in order to. maintain the idea o.f a homogeneous service. The medical officer of health, from the nature of his work, must be interested in all sections of the work and, therefore, representative of all groups, if he is doing his duty properly. The section was not inserted with a view to, limiting or neutralising group representation as has been asserted bv some members. The Council of the Society is mainly concerned in its association with o.utside bodies such as government departments, the British Medical Association, the County Councils' Association and similar bodies, and therefore sho.uld have as representatives a proportion of men of wide outlook holding administrative posts. The Articles of Association were then discussed s e r i a t i m , and the following amendments, after much discussion, were carried : - Article 3.--That the name of the Society be reconsidered to make it more representative of the whole
Society.