SIR,—Permit me to compliment you on the timely article by
your medical correspondent concerning T.B. and Sanatoria. I write these lines, not as a medical expert, but merely as a patient who has, since the war, been treated at the British Sanatorium, Montana Hall, Switzer- land (mentioned by your correspondent), and as one who is consequently well acquainted with the financial difficulties involved in obtaining treat. ment. Happily, I am able to say straight away that as a result of magnificent treatment and medical skill I am perfectly fit and have been working normally for close on two year's. However, looking back over the years, it seems quite obvious that, had present regulations been in operation in 1946, the results might well have teen different. When one is struck down with such a treacherous disease, the regime of a sanatorium is an immediate necessity, for the dual purpose of arresting the complaint speedily and removing oneself from circulation, to prevent others from being infected. In 1946 there was a six months' waiting list in the United Kingdom both for private and public sanatoria (the waiting period is steadily rising). It was this delay alone which brought many patients to Switzerland, where one could gain entrance practically without notice and thus benefit from earlier treatment. Mon. tana Hall reopened after the war in October, 1946, and gradually filled up to its maximum capacity. The fees for an average room, excluding major surgical treatment, worked out at around thirty Swiss francs per day-113 per week at the 1946 rate of exchange. Apart from all other considerations, last year's devaluation of the pound automatically raised those fees to the sterling equivalent of £19 per week. In the meantime, as your correspondent points out, the local authority grants were with• drawn, thus putting the current fees even further from the reach of the average person. Surely the most vigorous steps must be taken to increasethe flow of medically selected patients to Switzerland ; and the National Health Service must be made to contribute grants as long as it is incapable of offering immediate sanatorium treatment at home. Exchange control regulations should be relaxed and a far more sympathetic attitude, hitherto noticeably lacking, should be adopted by all authorities con- cemed. Failure to take drastic and immediate action may well precipitate the anomaly of the T.B. population increasing, coinciding with the closing down of Swiss sanatoria. It has already been made knoviry that the British Sanatorium, Montana Hall, to which reference has already been made, may have to close shortly. An immediate remedy must be sought Yours faithfully, Ex-T.B. PATIENT. 74, Queen's Road, Tankerton-on-Sea, Kent.
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