View report page

76
exemption clause, and the Board have in most cases made it a condition
precedent to the approval of Bye-laws made by the Metropolitan Sanitary
Authorities that an exemption clause of some kind or other should be
inserted.
There are other unsatisfactory features in these Bye-laws which
require alteration, not the least important of which is that at present the
landlord is made responsible for the lime washing and decorative work
and for the maintenance of the sanitary appliances of all kinds. These
are obligations which, in my opinion, should rest with the owner.
Ambulance Service in the Metropolis.
The removal by ambulances of cases of infectious disease from their
homes to hospitals in London may be fairly described as excellent, but
the general ambulance arrangements for medical, surgical, and other
non-infectious cases is unquestionably extremely defective.
The facilities that are at present afforded to the general public for
the removal of persons suffering from injuries or non-infectious ailments
are under present circumstances of a most meagre and, I might say,
unattainable description. There are, no doubt, charitable institutions
which can place ambulances at the disposal of persons requiring them,
but the difficulty of securing these at reasonably short notice is so great
as to render their services of little value.
It has been suggested that the Metropolitan Asylums Board should,
in conjunction with their present ambulance service, provide one for
general non-infectious use; and, while during the recent Small-pox
epidemic I deprecated the Board taking on so new and important a
duty, I am now of opinion that this body is the one which, in London,
can organise and carry out successfully a system of ambulance service.
The recent proposal of the Board to station ambulances at the
Mead Ambulance Station, Fulham, for use in this Borough appears to
me, however, unsatisfactory and not likely to be of much use.
Inspection of Nuisances.
During the year 8,002 inspections have been made by the District
and other Inspectors, and in 13,865 instances premises were re-inspected.