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
Deptford 1950
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Deptford Borough]
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MEASURES OF CONTROL BY LOCAL AUTHORITY
| Type of Property | No. of properties inspected | No. of inspections made | Number of treatments carried out* | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| By arrangement with occupier | Under Section 5 (1) | |||||
| Rats | Mice only | Rats | Mice only | |||
| Local Authority's | 3 | 9 | 2 | 2 | – | – |
| Dwelling House | 375 | 689 | 388 | 40 | – | – |
| Business Premises | 18 | 83 | 22 | 1 | – | – |
| Agricultural | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 396 | 781 | 412 | 43 | – | – |
*Excluding treatments included under block treatments.
Included under this heading are properties infested with both rats and mice.
A high proportion of business premises in the borough have their own
contracts with private service companies for the control and destruction
of rats and mice. This largely accounts for the smallness of the figures
relating to business premises.
Disinfection and Cleansing
The use of the disinfector at the South-Eastern Fever Hospital (now
renamed the New Cross General Hospital) was continued as a temporary
measure throughout the year, the Bathing Station also occupying part of
the hospital premises. Neither of these are entirely satisfactory. It is also
anticipated that the Regional Hospital Board will require the premises to
be vacated in the near future. It is hoped that the construction of the
proposed new station will be commenced during 1951.
The following is a summary of the work of disinfection, disinfestation and cleansing:—
| Premises disinfected (infectious disease) | 276 |
| Premises disinfected (requests) | 29 |
| Premises disinfected (verminous condition) | 533 |
| Premises disinfected (removals) | 10 |
| Total number of articles disinfected | 73,130 |
| Books disinfected | 274 |
| Number of articles destroyed at owner's request. | 356 |
In addition to the normal disinfection a considerable amount of work
was done for firms engaged in exporting second-hand clothing and rags
mainly to certain parts of Africa where the clothing is not allowed to be
imported unless previously disinfected.
The majority of the garments were men's jackets (20,000) trousers
(10,000) and women's coats and dresses (5,000). The total dealt with
during 1950 was 49,459 garments and 2 tons of rags.