London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Finsbury 1913
Annual report on the public health of Finsbury for the year 1913
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Many had lived in other places even while they were definitely
known to have phthisis. These places included other metropolitan
boroughs, the suburbs of Greater London, Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire,
Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, Yorkshire, the Midlands and
Italy.
The consideration of this distribution suggests that the successful
treatment of tuberculosis in Finsbury is closely bound up with
the treatment in the whole of London and in the rest of the
country.
Enquiry was made into the three last Finsbury addresses occupied by the patients while they were ill and before they had been notified. The results are embodied in the following table:-
| Previous Finsbury addresses during illness. | No. of Patients. | Previous phthisis cases at these addresses. | Previous phthisis deaths at these addresses. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 59 | 23 | 14 |
| 2 | 19 | 20 | 9 |
| 3 | 23 | 32 | 23 |
Some of the reasons given by the immigrants for their entry
into the borough were "To be near the hospitals," "To get into
the Holborn Infirmary," "To get rooms at a cheap rent," "To
stay with relatives," "To stay with friends," "Finsbury is convenient
for work" (these were chiefly labourers, carmen, porters,
packers and charwomen employed in the borough or in the City
of London), and "To stay with their compatriots" (these were
Italian consumptives).
Schools.-Forty-six of the patients notified were school
children. The schools chiefly affected were Bath Street (7), Moreland
Street (4), Risinghill Street (4), Compton Street (4), St.
Peter's, Saffron Hill (3), Central Street (3), Hugh Myddelton
School (3), The Holy Family (3), Ann Street (2),Chequer Street
(2), Winchester Street (2), White Lion Street 2 cases. The others
had one case each.