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
Bethnal Green 1913
Report on the sanitary condition and vital statistics during the year 1913 together with the report of the Chief Sanitary Inspector
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54
APPENDIX M.
Verminous School Children.
| 1910. | 1911. | 1912. | 1913. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of complaints received | 252 | 329 | 974 | 928 |
| do. inspections and re- inspections made | 289 | 358 | 991 | 1,742 |
| do. premises found to be verminous | 46 | 16 | 82 | 54 |
| do. defects discovered | 334 | 317 | 1,116 | 1,401 |
| do. notices served | 206 | 152 | 211 | 466 |
| do. prosecutions | — | — | — | 1 |
The inspection of the homes of these children now
forms a large item in the work of the inspectors, and the
increase in clerical labour involved in the keeping of
records and the returns which are required by the County
Council is considerable. Whilst there is no doubt that
good may be done by the moral pressure alone of the visits
of the inspectors, in addition to notices served upon
owners requiring the carrying out of necessary repairs,
there is no effective scheme which touches the real inwardness
of this question, viz., the lack in many cases of sufficient
means, and the lack in training of the poorest of our
folk in "mother-craft" and domestic hygiene, for which
the best measures which we can take as a Public Authority
are a very poor substitute.