View report page

51
Sample notes from the Health Visitors' reports
enable one to appreciate more fully these unsatisfactory
conditions. In one case there were six persons
occupying one room on the ground floor of a large
tenement building. Bad smells were observable when
the tenement dust shoot was being emptied, and the
Health Visitor herself saw many flies about the place.
The Health Visitor's remark on the case is brief and
to the point: "This family, all living and sleeping
in one room, are continually ill. The mother tries to
keep the room as clean as possible." In another case,
where there were five persons living in one room, the
food was said to have been uncovered on the top of
a cupboard; the dustbin uncovered and overflowing
and flies prevalent in the room. A further case of
unsatisfactory living conditions was a house with a
horse flesh store, a cat's meat shop and a cowshed
in close proximity. The sanitary nuisances discovered
as a result of the Health Visitors' visits were, of
course, dealt with by the Sanitary Inspectors. The
unsatisfactory housing conditions are referred to elsewhere
in this report.
Several talks to mothers on diarrhoea, its prevention
and treatment, were given by the Superintendent Health
Visitor at the Welfare Centre.
MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE
DEVELOPMENTS.
During 1927, at the request of the Public Health
Committee, I reported as to certain developments of
the Council's Maternity and Child Welfare Scheme
which it might be advisable to undertake. It was clear
that no considerable extension of activity was possible
within the limits of the present accommodation and
staff, which are already adequately occupied. If
sufficient and suitable accommodation were available
in the Western portion of the Borough, it could