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
Kensington 1953
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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were made at two holiday homes, Lennox House, Southsea, and
St. Mary's Home, Dover. Private coaches were hired to take
the old people to and from these homes, and convenient assembly
points in the borough arranged. The Family Welfare Association
undertook the work, including the bookings at the holiday
homes and the hire of coaches, and the Council paid towards
their administrative expenses the sum of five shillings for
each person for whom a holiday was arranged.
Where the arrangements were for a family of two or more
persons only one payment of five shillings was made.
Applications for holidays continued to be investigated
by the Medical Officer of Health, assessed in accordance with
the approved scale, and passed to the Family Welfare Association
to make all arrangements.
The following is a summary of work carried out in 1953:-
| Total applications received | 112 | ||
| Unsuitable on medical grounds | 11 | ||
| Consideration deferred | 19 | 30 | |
| Number approved | 82 | ||
| Cancellations after approval | 16 | ||
| Number sent on holiday | 66 | ||
| Number sent to Lennox House | 41 | ||
| Number sent to St. Mary's Home | 25 | ||
| Contributions by applicants | £ 57. | 12s. | Od. |
| Cost of holidays to the Council | 4 26. | 15s. | 8d. |
| Booking fees paid to Family Welfare Association | 14. | 15s. | Od. |
Domiciliary Cleansing
Arrangements have been made whereby old people's living
accommodation and household articles are cleansed and, if
necessary, disinfested. The Regional Hospital Boards, the
London County Council and the Kensington Council of Social
Service co-operate by providing temporary accommodation, where
necessary, while the old people's belongings are being dealt
with at the disinfecting station. Forty-one old people were
dealt with in 1953.
Cleansing of Old People
One of the problems arising in the work of caring for old
people is the number of old people found to be living alone
and suffering from personal uncleanliness. They are not sick
but merely feeble or senile, and occasionally they are found
to be verminous. Some of them are dirty through lack of selfinterest,
but others are acutely conscious of their inability
to maintain a reasonable standard of cleanliness. There are
some who live in the older tenement houses which are not provided
with baths and bathrooms, and they are unable to go to the public
baths because of incapacity.
The powers of the Council to cleanse persons were limited
to verminous or suspected verminous persons (apart from special
provision for common lodging houses). These powers were not so
wide as those for dealing with the cleansing of articles.
Representations were made to the Metropolitan Boroughs'