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
St Giles (Camden) 1872
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Giles District]
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having died from suffocation or convulsions. In two other deaths of
infants, verdicts of wilful murder were returned.
Non-certified cases. 100. In 18 cases the registration was effected
without a certificate from a qualified medical practitioner, and 11 of these
were cases either (as alleged) of debility, convulsions, or premature birth.
All these cases should have been certified by a public medical officer,
after due investigation, even although an inquest might not have been
held. Under a proper system, no corpse should be interred without a
certificate of the cause of death from a competent medical practitioner.
When a certificate was given by the attending practitioner that should
suffice, unless suspicion subsequently arose of criminal treatment; when
otherwise, a medical practitioner should be required to make the
necessary investigation, and to decide whether an inquest was necessary
or not, instead of such an important matter being left, as now, to the
uneducated intelligence of a Coroner's Beadle. A better system would
diminish the number and cost of inquests very considerably.
Eight deaths were certified as "unknown" These occurred in the
workhouse.
The Mortality in the Sub-Districts for Ten Years.
101. The diminished death-rate for 1872, in comparison with previous
years, is exhibited in the subjoined Table. The figures are very
remarkable. It must be remembered, however, that all London enjoyed
a low death-rate last year, and it is to be hoped that some other districts
can show as favorable a death-register as ourselves. The ratio of advantage
to St. Giles, in relation to the metropolis at large, I have already
set forth. (§ 88.)
TABLE 9.—Death-rate per 1000 in Sub-districts *
| DISTRICTS. | 1862. | 1863. | 1864. | 1865. | 1866. | 1867. | 1868. | 1869. | 1870. | 1871. | Average Death-rate of 10 years. | 1872. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Georg e Bloomsbry. | 21.6 | 19.9 | 21.6 | 21.1 | 20.0 | 19.0 | 21.0 | 21.16 | 22.1 | 21.2 | 20.86 | 19.67 |
| St. Giles South | 31.7 | 32.7 | 34.8 | 34.6 | 32.8 | 31.6 | 31.1 | 33.20 | 3.1 | 28.3 | 32.49 | 24.41 |
| St. Giles North | 28.2 | 27.3 | 29.2 | 26.6 | 29.8 | 26.6 | 25.3 | 29.47 | 27. | 23.4 | 27.33 | 21.15 |
| Whole District | 28.9 | 28.5 | 31.1 | 29.6 | 29.0 | 26.9 | 26.8 | 27.94 | 28.19 | 25. | 8.25 | 23.77 |
* Correction has been made for the extra length of the registration years 1863 & 1868, and for the
proportion of deaths due to each sub-district among the deaths in the Workhouse and in Hospitals outside
the respective sub-districts. There were 94 deaths in the Workhouse that could not be allocated to either
of the sub-districts. These are taken into account in estimating the death-rate for the whole District.
( Vide Table No. 6.)
The Mortality in the Workhouse and other Local Institutions.
102. During the year 1872 there were 108 births in the workhouse:
the deaths were 189; but, including the deaths in the Highgate, Hampstead,
and Stockwell Infirmaries, there were 213. This is less than an
average number. I have already distributed these deaths among the
three sub-districts (§§ 75-6), so that it is unnecessary to repeat the
statement here.
The Bloomsbury Dispensary. 103. As might be expected, there has
been a smaller number of patients at this Dispensary than usual. The
heaviest quarter was the first, the lightest the last. The following Table
shows the facts.