14 QUATERCENTENARY STUDIES IN PATHOLOGY 



successful than any other hitherto attempted. It is now being supple- 

 mented in some sanatoria by other forms of special treatment. The 

 progress of the patient towards increased constitutional resistance can be 

 tested from day to day and week to week by methods of extreme 

 delicacy. Continuous and stringent medical supervision is essential. 



It is obvious that, to produce satisfactory results, such highly 

 specialised Hospitals must be in the hands of specialists experienced 

 and skilled in the methods of scientific diagnosis and treatment. 

 Otherwise, patients and their friends will be disappointed. Accordingly, 

 individual Local Authorities, instead of attempting themselves alone to 

 provide the trained medical skill and scientific laboratories necessary for 

 effective management, should either utilise existing sanatoria or combine 

 with other authorities for a properly equipped sanatorium. It should 

 be part of the duty of the Local Authority, or Phthisis Committee, to 

 discover and to keep in touch with all available sanatoria, either in the 

 immediate locality or at a distance. 



It may be added that, in structure, sanatoria may be of the simplest 

 and cheapest form. Wood and iron sanatoria have been provided at 

 Woodilee and Gartloch Asylums at approximately ^90 per bed. Open- 

 air shelters can be provided at a cost of from £6 to ^8 per bed, or 

 even less. 



B. All- Day Hospitals. 



In some sanatoria, patients attend all day for treatment, and return 

 home at night. This method has been found very satisfactory where 

 the patient's home is reasonably suitable. The resources of Hospital 

 treatment can thus be made available without any serious increase of 

 ward accommodation. Extra shelters are alone necessary. The 

 patients are not only educated in open-air methods ; they are definitely 

 treated with a view to complete cure. Doubtless, as the curative 

 methods are further improved, day-attendance at Hospitals will grow in 

 favour. The patients have the advantage of being nursed and medically 

 supervised through the greater part of the day. 



C. All-Night Hospitals. 



Frequently, the patient's home is unsuitable for living in over-night. 

 But his work may be in the open air, and in every respect compatible 



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