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Town Hall,
Kensington, W.8,
June 1st, 1926.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Royal Borough of Kensington.
Ladies and Gentlemen,—
I have the honour to submit, for your information, my Annual Report for 1925 upon the state
of the Public Health in Kensington.
Article 14 (3) of the Sanitary Officers Order, 1922, prescribes that a Medical Officer of Health
shall as soon as practicable after the end of the year make an annual report on the sanitary circumstances,
sanitary administration and the vital statistics of the district, containing in addition to
any other matters upon which he may consider it desirable to report, such information as may
from time to time be required by the Minister of Health.
The Minister, in the exercise of his powers under this Order, has issued Circular No. 648 in
which he requires the report for 1925 to be a survey report dealing not only with the health
of the Borough for the year, but comprehensively with the measure of progress made during the
previous five years in the improvement of the public health. The Circular prescribes the minimum
requirements for the 1925 report and it is in compliance with the Minister's directions that this
report has been re-arranged for this year and includes information not included in previous reports.
It is the Minister's intention that there should be a survey report once in five years, and that
the reports for the intervening years should be of a more brief character, dealing with the statistics
of the year and reviewing fully only those noteworthy conditions which have not been dealt with
adequately in the preceding survey report and important circumstances which have arisen
subsequently to the preparation of that survey report.
The year under review was a satisfactory one from the public health standpoint. There is
no serious epidemic of infectious disease to be reported apart from the prevalence of diphtheria
towards the end of the year. The disease was not of a severe type and in the 259 cases there
were only ten deaths.
The zymotic death rate, that is to say, the death rate from smallpox, measles, scarlet fever,
diphtheria, whooping cough, enteric fever and diarrhoea, was 0.46 which is remarkably low and,
indeed, much lower than for many years past.
The number of deaths of infants under the age of twelve months for every 1,000 births was
78 in 1925 as against 75 in the preceding year, but the account of the conditions responsible, which
appears on pages 9 to 16, will, I hope, satisfy the Council that the slight increase is in no way an
adverse reflection on the improving housing conditions in the Borough and the efficiency of the
Kensington Maternity and Child Welfare Organisation. Indeed, I think it is clear that the increase
which has occurred is due to circumstances over which the local Sanitary Authority have little or
no control.
From the administrative point of view, the most important feature of the year has been the
great activity in regard to house repairs and improvements in the housing conditions in the poorer
parts of the Borough. The condition of the housing accommodation of the working classes has
received a good deal of attention both inside and outside the Council during the past twelve months
and, therefore, I beg to call special attention to a detailed statement on pages 94 to 101 showing the
enormous volume of housing work which was conducted by the Council in 1925 and the two
preceding years.
The presentation of this report affords me the opportunity of expressing my appreciation of
the full measure of support which has been accorded to me by the Mayor, the Chairmen and ViceChairmen
of the various Committees, all members of the Council and the Chief Officers of other
Departments. I wish also to thank the Council for their kindness in granting me leave of absence
to take part in the Interchange of Health Officers on the Continent held under the auspices of the
League of Nations, and to thank the staff of the Public Health Department for their loyal cooperation
during the year and particularly for their efficient service during my absence abroad.
VITAL STATISTICS
The Royal Borough of Kensington as constituted under the London Government Act, 1899,
covers an area of 2,291 acres, and is co-extensive with the Civil Parish and Registration District
of the same name. The line of demarcation formed by Holland Park Avenue, High Street,
Notting Hill Gate, and the Bayswater Road divides the Borough into approximately equal halves