torium Board the X-ray work for the clinic is to be done at the adjacent Sanatorium from 1st April, 1959. Previously X-ray requirements had to be met at the Queen Mary Hospital which involved considerable per- sonal and transport problems for spine and joint cases.
187. Hospital treatment for the orthopaedic cases is underlaken at the Queen Mary and Grantham Hospitals and at the Sandy Bay Con- valescent Home.
188. Attendances at the clinic during the year comprised 629 first visits and 2,083 subsequent visits as compared with 543 first and 768 subsequent allendances during the previous year. An analysis of the site of the disease in now cases showed that there were 318 spinal cases and 111 hip joint infections; other sites accounted for 106 cases.
189. All home visiting and social work in connexion with the orthopaedic cases is carried out both in the clinics and in the hospitals by the Tuberculosis Almoner and her staff.
Chest Surgery Clinics
190. The Government Thoracic Surgeon holds a weekly clinic at the Wan Chai Chest Clinic at which he sees cases referred for a surgical opinion and follows up those patients who have had surgical treatment. There were 659 attendances of which 89 were cases seen for the first time, An additional session is held once in two weeks by the Thoracic Surgeon of the Grantham Hospital who has been assisting in the clearing of a waiting list of patients in need of chest surgery. At this fortnightly clinic 157 patients have been scen, of whom 114 attended for the first time.
191. The combined efforts of these two surgeons have resulted in the elimination of the waiting list and those cases selected for surgical treatment of pulmonary disease can now go straight into hospital as soon as they are ready for surgery.
Hospital Treatment
192. The total number of beds maintained or subsidized by Govern- ment for the medical and surgical treatment of tuberculosis in the Colony is made up as follows:
Goveroment Hospitals Grantham Hospital
Ruttonjec Sapatorium
Freni Memorial Convalescent Home
Tung Wah Group of Hospitals
Havca of Hope Sanatorium
Sandy Bay Convalescent Home
182
336
210
122
Jud
1,348
38
193. Of this total, distribution of beds is:
Pulmonary Medical
Government Hospitals
Grantham Hospital
Ruttonjee Sanatorium
Haven of Hope Sanatorium
www
Government Hospitals
Pulmonary Surgical
Grantham Hospital
Ruttonjee Sanatorium Orthopaedic
Grantham Hospital
Ruttonjee Sanatorium Convalescent
www
10
--་
Sandy Bay Convalescent Home Freni Memorial Convalescent Home Chronic & private cases
Tung Wah Hospitals
Total
::
162
270
182
122
20
9888 A** På g
28
76
20
$4
210
1,348
194. The distribution and utilization of these beds may vary as circumstances dictate but such variations are at present minimal and for all practical purposes the figures given above are reasonably accurate. At the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital a small number of sur- gical cases are admitted from the Haven of Hope Sanatorium each year for pulmonary or orthopaedic surgery.
195. During the year the Grantham Hospital, starting in August. opened up the three unoccupied doors it bad not been possible to staff previously. Government agreed to finance the maintenance of the addi- tional 180 beds so provided and to arrange for the clinical supervision of these beds by Government Specialists. This made it possible to free a number of beds in the Lai Chi Kok Hospital for the use of short-term convalescent general medical and surgical patients from the grossly over-burdened Kowloon Hospital and to release a small number of beds in the Queen Mary Hospital for the accommodation of neuro-surgical cases. The result was a slight diminution in the total of beds available in Government and Government-subsidized hospitals for the medical treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis bat balanced against this is the greatly increased provision for the ambulant chemotherapy of patients who are fit to continue in employment while under treatment. Further, on the surgical side the increased facilities have had a significant effect on the turnover of patients and the waiting list of pulmonary surgical cases has been eliminated.
39