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The Holborn death-rate was only 16.9, the lowest death rate recorded for
Holborn, the average death-rate for the preceding decennium having been 21.0 per
1,000. The lowest death-rates of previous years were 17.9 in 1904, 18.3 in 1903,
20.0 in 1901 and 20.4 in 1897. The London death-rate was 15.1 in comparison with
16.1 for the previous year.
The corrected infantile mortality was 126 deaths under one year, per 1,000
births, in comparison with 129 for London.
The death-rate from zymotic diseases in Holborn was again very low, and below
that for London, viz., 1.06 per 1,000 in comparison with l.70.
The death-rate from phthisis (consumption) has again diminished from 2.75 to
2.65 per 1,000. The London rate decreased from 1.62 to 1.42.
The number of notifications of infectious diseases, excluding the voluntary notification
of consumption, was only 263, the lowest recorded for the Borough; the
preceding year when the number of notifications was 276, was the next lowest. The
notification rate was 4.65 per 1,000 in comparison with 4.83 for the preceding year.
The London rate was 7.0 per 1,000 compared with 6.0 for the preceding year.
Under the heading of Scarlet Fever I again emphasise the importance of
every Isolation Hospital being well supplied with small isolation rooms or wards, in
fact that fever hospitals should be constructed so as to secure strict isolation as far
as possible. I again allude to the Pasteur Hospital, Paris, in which the ideal system
of hospital construction, viz., the cubicle system exists to a large extent, and show
that some of the wards of existing hospitals could with advantage, at a small outlay,
be adapted to the cubicle system. I also give some details respecting the excellent
results that have been obtained there for the prevention of the spread of infection
from patient to patient. Of 2,745 admissions infection was conveyed in less than
3 per 1,000. On the other hand from the Annual Reports of the Metropolitan
Asylums Board 1900-1904 inclusive, of a total of 61,245 scarlet fever admissions,
as many as 4,800 also suffered from other infectious diseases during their stay in
hospital, i.e., more than 78 per 1,000. I also give a report of the Hospitals
Committee of the Metropolitan Asylums Board respecting the accommodation of
patients and errors of diagnosis.
The Special Investigation and Reorganisation Committee of the Council, which
was appointed to carefully investigate the various departments of the Council and to
recommend such reorganisation of the staff and administration as they might
consider desirable, reported to the Council on the 28th June, 1905, respecting the
Public Health Department, as follows:—
"We have most carefully considered the working of this Department with
"reference to the number of staff employed; and are of opinion that, in view of
"the amount of detail work to be performed, we cannot recommend any reduction
"in number.