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
Lewisham 1956
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lewisham Borough]
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15
Local sickness
Through the courtesy of the Regional Medical Officer of the
Ministry of National Insurance, I am sent weekly a return indicating
for the various areas of London the first certificates of sickness benefit
received in the local offices. The areas served by these local offices are
in the main coterminous with postal-districts of London and do not
coincide with borough boundaries. Lewisham is served by four offices,
"Lewisham," "Downham," "Eltham," and "Norwood," but as
only a very small portion of the borough comes within the purview of
the last two, it is felt that a better representation of the trend of sickness
within the borough is given by quoting only the figures for "Lewisham,"
and "Downham."
Table 4
Morbidity shown in insurance certificates
| Average for period ending | "Lewisham" | "Downham" |
|---|---|---|
| January 31 | 761 | 194 |
| February 28 | 803 | 225 |
| March 27 | 576 | 148 |
| April 24 | 418 | 105 |
| May 22 | 407 | 94 |
| June 19 | 357 | 92 |
| July 17 | 320 | 85 |
| August 14 | 270 | 77 |
| September 11 | 314 | 90 |
| October 9 | 445 | 125 |
| November 6 | 450 | 140 |
| December 4 | 549 | 137 |
| January 1 | 425 | 102 |
| Average for period 6 April to 6 December 1956 | 383 | 101 |
| Weekly average for the year 1956 | 469 | 124 |
| Weekly average for the year 1955 | 480 | 129 |
| Weekly average for the year 1954 | 424 | 115 |
| Weekly average for the year 1953 | 471 | 133 |
The chart on the next page shows the weekly applications for
sickness benefit in 1956 for the "Lewisham" and "Downham" areas,
and compares these with the maximum and the minimum for any week
during the six year period 1951-6. It will be seen that 1956 was an
average year.