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77
SANITARY INSPECTORIAL STAFF.
(Special Report presented to the Council on September 28th, 1905.)
Ten years ago (on June 27th, 1895) I was appointed
Medical Officer of Health for the Parish of Lambeth, with
a Sanitary Staff consisting at that time of eight Inspectors,
one of whom was Special Food and Drugs and Smoke Inspector,
and one chiefly engaged indoors (clerical work,
etc.). The Censal 1896 population was 295,033, and the
enumerated number of inhabited houses (Census 1891) was
38,556. This gave (roughly) an average of 36,879 persons
and 4,819 inhabited houses to each Inspector—proportions
which were pointed out by me to be much too large for
purposes of efficient sanitary supervision. My first action
as Medical Officer was to report upon this insufficiency of
the Lambeth Sanitary Inspectorial Staff, with the result that
the then Vestry decided, on April 16th, 1896, to make a
substantial increase in the existing number of Sanitary Inspectors
by appointing four additional ones. This increase
was sanctioned by the Local Government Board on June
10th, 1896, and four new Inspectors were duly appointed,
and their appointments confirmed by the Board on September
24th, 1896, the Board making a provision that a further Report
should be presented after twelve months by the Medical
Officer of Health for Lambeth Parish, as to the necessity (if
any) for a still further increase in Lambeth Sanitary Inspectorial
Staff.
In this way the Sanitary Inspectorial Staff was increased
in 1896 to 12 Inspectors; giving an average of 24,586 persons
and 3,213 inhabited houses to each Inspector (taking again
the Censal 1896 population, and the Censal 1891 inhabited
houses).
At this time (1896) the Sanitary Inspectors were, by order
of the then Vestry, made responsible for the supervision (and
testing) of the drainage of new buildings, in addition to
that of old buildings. This was a large and important increase
in their duties, when it is remembered that all new
drains require to be tested with water, both in sections and
as a whole, and that an average of about twelve visits is