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
Greenwich 1915
The annual report made to the Council of the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich for the year 1915
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district of West Greenwich, are a total of 37 deaths of sailors
and others occurring in the "Dreadnought" Hospital. Such persons
had no known fixed residence in England, and, unfortunately,
died in the "Dreadnought" Hospital.
The total deaths of soldiers and naval men in the Borough
numbered 130, of which 114 occurred in the Royal Herbert Hospital,
1 in the Miller Hospital, 2 in the Brook Hospital, 1 in the
Cottage Hospital, 3 in the Seamen's Hospital, 5 in outside institutions,
3 in the public highway, and 1 at the Military Officers' Mess,
Shooters Hill Road.
The deaths were made up as follows: —
| English—Expeditionary Forces | 36 | |
| Others | 90 | |
| Naval Men | 2 | |
| 128 | ||
| Belgian | 1 | |
| German | 1 | |
| 130 | ||
The high Death Rate of 43.41 in Kidbrooke includes the
deaths of soldiers 117 in number—114 in the Royal Herbert
Hospital, 2 in the Brook Hospital, and 1 in the Cottage Hospital.
Had these military deaths not have been included in our
figures the Death Rate for West Greenwich would have been 16.21
per 1,000, Kidbrooke 5.95 per 1,000, and that of the Borough as a
whole 16.20 per 1,000, which figure is still not as favourable as
that of previous years.
The higher Death Rate is very largely due to the greater number
of deaths from diseases of the Respiratory System. There were
301 deaths due to diseases of the respiratory organs, as compared
with 115 in the preceding year. Pneumonia alone caused 146
deaths this year.