London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Chelsea 1918
Annual (abridged) reports of the Medical Officer of Health, for the years 1917 and 1918
This page requires JavaScript
Continued from previous page...
| Visits to homes of patients by Dispensary and District Nurses:— | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insured | 220 | |||||
| Uninsured | 535 | |||||
| 755 | ||||||
| Consultations with Medical adviser of Insurance Committee | 28 | |||||
| Consultations with Practitioners at homes of patients | 1 | |||||
| Number of written reports concerning individual patients made to Public Authorities | 32 | |||||
| Number of written reports made to Practitioners | 3 | |||||
| Number of X-ray examinations of patients | 18 | |||||
| Number of examinations of sputum:— | ||||||
| Insured | 70 | |||||
| Uninsured | 108 | |||||
| 178 | ||||||
In addition to the above work of the Dispensary, all the secretarial
work of the Tuberculosis Care Committee is undertaken by paid officers
of the Brompton Hospital. The Dispensary commenced working under
an agreement made between the Borough Council and the Brompton
Hospital on the 1st April, 1917, for a period of one year. The agreement
is to be renewed at its termination for another period of one year.
Four cases of cerebro-spinal meningitis were notified in Chelsea in 1917
as against 5 cases in 1916, and 10 in 1915. One of the cases was found
however, after death to be a case of septic meningitis. Of the 8 undoubted
cases, 2 ended fatally. Two were infants under one year of age, and one
was a girl of 17 years. All the cases were removed to hospital.
Only one case of poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis) was notified in
Chelsea in 1917, a boy of 7 years who was treated at Victoria Hospital.
Four cases of puerperal fever were notified in Chelsea in 1917. There
were no deaths. Two cases were attended in their confinements by doctors,
and two by midwives.
Fourteen cases of ophthalmia neonatorum were notified in Chelsea in
1917, and an additional 10 cases of eye trouble in infants, which were not
notified, were visited by the woman sanitary inspector. Of these 24 cases,
14 made complete recoveries, and the remainder were left with some eye
weakness. Steps were taken in all cases to ensure that the affected eyes
received appropriate treatment.
Sale of Food and Drugs Acts.
Of the 400 samples taken for analysis in 1917; 185 were milk, 124
being genuine, and 11 adulterated, equivalent to 8·1 per cent. of the total
milks examined, as against 6 per cent. in 1916. Of the 11 adulterated
samples, proceedings were taken and convictions obtained in 5 cases. In
the other 6 cases no proceedings were taken, as the amounts of adulteration