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
Bermondsey 1959
Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health for the year 1959
This page requires JavaScript
(17)
REPORT ON THE PROGRESS OF THE SURVEY OF
OLD PEOPLE
During the past year 1,014 new cases have been found, which
brings the total number of cases registered during the three years of
the survey to 2,721. The figure for 1959 shows a marked increase
over those for 1957 and 1958, which is, of course, due to the fact
that the Committee have appointed temporary additional Welfare
Assistants. It must be realised that the work entailed after finding
these new cases is very often considerable and requires numerous
revisits, and as the number of old people under surveillance grows,
the amount of work and revisiting increases correspondingly.
Table I—Age and sex distribution
| Age | Living | Deceased | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (or age at death) | Male | Female | Male | Female |
| 50—59 | 16 | 27 | 1 | 5 |
| 60—64 | 28 | 116 | 5 | 6 |
| 65—69 | 111 | 317 | 16 | 16 |
| 70—74 | 172 | 449 | 24 | 47 |
| 75—79 | 184 | 415 | 40 | 44 |
| 80—89 | 141 | 365 | 43 | 80 |
| 90+ | 8 | 31 | 3 | 11 |
| Totals: | 660 | 1,720 | 132 | 209 |
| Total Cases Registered: 2,721 | ||||
Of the 341 deaths, 220 (2/3 of total) occurred in hospital.
The figures given by the Registrar General at the 1951 Census
showed 2,245 males and 4,702 females, totalling 6,947, over twice
as many women as men. The number of cases found to date shows
three times as many women as men.
Table II —Mobility
One of the chief problems confronting old people is the question
of getting about, doing housework, shopping, and various other
social activities. With this in mind, each case has been put in one
of three categories. It must be appreciated, however, that although
a patient may commence the year as being fully mobile, he may,
through various circumstances throughout the period of the survey,