care and nursing.
Group D—Cases requiring Special Observation.
1. Patients admitted for the purpose of diagnosis.
2. Patients needing to be watched, before the best form
of continued treatment can be determined.
Emergency cases, e.g., patients with haemoptysis, and
patients requiring surgical treatment may come
within any of the above groups.
Of the 12,441 beds probably 5,000 are in the hands of voluntary organizations, and are intended for patients in group A, though for the reasons set out on pages 208 and 223 they contain a large proportion of patients in the other groups. It appears not unlikely, however, that the total accommodation, official and voluntary, for patients in group A has reached one bed per 5,000 population, the accommodation recommended by the Departmental Committee on Tuberculosis as immediately advisable. This accommodation is unevenly distributed and much of it is being utilised for patients coming within groups B, C, and D. All the evidence available shows a great need for additional beds for patients coming within the last-named groups. The Departmental Committee recommended that the total needs of the community might be assumed to amount to one bed to 2,500 population for all stages of pulmonary tuberculosis, in addition to poor-law accommodation. This means a provision of some 14,000 beds in addition to the 9,000 poor-law beds, or a total provision of about one bed to 1,500 population.
If we include cases of non-pulmonary tuberculosis it may be safely assumed that each community should aim at having available for the treatment of tuberculosis at least one bed per 1,000 inhabitants. Fewer beds may suffice for sparsely populated communities, and more will be needed in some towns.