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
Camberwell 1927
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Camberwell.
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Bookings, Opening Date to December 31st, 1927.
| Medical reasons for Admission. | First Confinement only. | First Confinement & Housing. | Housing Difficulties. | Total Confinements. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 | — | 2 | – | 1 | 3 |
| 1924 | 3 | 3 | 49 | 59 | 114 |
| 1925 | 6 | 22 | 67 | 93 | 188 |
| 1926 | 7 | 20 | 65 | 61 | 153 |
| 1927 | 16 | 47 | 124 | 113 | 300 |
| Totals | 32 | 94 | 305 | 327 | 758 |
Additional Applications Received.
| Number of Applications. | Admission fee not accepted by patient. | Accommodation not available. | Unsuitable cases. | First Confinement cases. | Housing circumstances cases. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 | 5 | 4 | – | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 1924 | 104 | 43 | 48 | 13 | 13 | 91 |
| 1925 | 119 | 25 | 81 | 13 | 20 | 99 |
| 1926 | 148 | 77 | 53 | 18 | 66 | 82 |
| 1927 | 145 | 72 | 52 | 21 | 59 | 86 |
| Totals | 521 | 221 | 234 | 66 | 159 | 362 |
Infant Welfare Centres.
No change has taken place in the personnel during the year.
Unfortunately, the work in the area of the Camberwell Centre
suffered to some extent owing to the continued illness of the
Health Visitor, and consequently the Clinic attendances and the
home visits figures were less than those recorded for the previous
year. Every effort was made, however, to ensure that the visits
to mothers 14 days after confinement and the general visiting in
the area should not fall behind. To enable this to be done it was
necessary to curtail the number of sewing class and health talk
sessions at each of the Municipal Centres so as to release the
Health Visitors for duty in the Camberwell area. This course was
justified, as the attendances at these classes in the past have
proved to be most disappointing. lam inclined to the view that
if there were sufficient voluntary helpers available at the medical
clinics, the sewing class and health talk sessions could be permanently
discontinued and replaced by a series of informal talks
to small groups of mothers attending the doctor's sessions. There
are quite a number of mothers who do not appreciate a set lecture,