View report page

3
Town Hall,
Kensington, W.8.
18th May, 1937.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Royal Borough of Kensington.
My Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my annual report for 1936 on the state of the public health in
Kensington.
Although it is not wise to entertain a feeling of satisfaction in regard to public health work,
where there is always room for improvement, or to be too optimistic, it is pardonable to call attention
to one or two features in the health of the borough which must be gratifying to all members of the
council. For many years the Council have been perturbed by the persistently high infant death rate,
and it was this unsatisfactory rate which was responsible more than anything else for the council's
decision to appoint whole-time medical officers at the infant welfare centres. Two of these officers
began work in 1935, and one in July, 1936. The infant death rate has fallen from 93 in 1934 to 79
in 1935, and to 73 in 1936. Although the figure of 73 for last year is still higher than that for England
and Wales and for London, it is at least worthy of note that the fall of 6 points in the Kensington
rate in 1936 took place during a year which was generally unsatisfactory in that the rates for England
and Wales and for London showed an increase. The rate for England and Wales rose by 2 points,
and the rate for London by 8 points.
Another rate which has concerned the council is that for maternal mortality, which in past
years has been round about 4 ; that is to say, out of every 1,000 births in the borough there have
been 4 deaths of mothers resulting from pregnancy or childbirth. In 1934 the council appointed a
whole-time ante-natal medical officer with a view to obtaining a reduction in this rate. For a few
years before her appointment the Kensington rate averaged 4.4, the rate for England and Wales
4.3 and the rate for London 4.3. In the years following her appointment, the rate for Kensington
has averaged 1.5, for England and Wales 4.1, and for London 2.4. In 1934 the Kensington rate was
1.3, in 1935 it was 2.2, and last year it was 0.9. The perfect figure is of course nil, but in human affairs
it is impossible to avoid every misfortune, and it is reasonable to say that last year the Kensington
figure approached the irreducible minimum.
The incidence of diphtheria in Kensington was particularly low in 1936, there being only
142 cases compared with 338 in 1935.
The year was one of great housing activity, and particular attention is drawn to page 37,
where details of housing work are given. Although it is difficult, or perhaps impossible, to produce
statistical evidence of the benefit which has accrued from the efforts which the council have made
in housing reform in recent years, it is the experience of all the officers in the public health department
who have to deal with housing defects, overcrowding, and so on, that the working-class
residents of the borough are living under very much better housing conditions than they were a
few years ago.
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, Notting Hill
Gate, and the Bayswater Road divides the borough into approximately equal halves described in
previous years and in this report as North and South Kensington respectively. Each of these areas
is co-terminous with the parliamentary division of the same name. The borough is further
sub-divided into nine wards. North Kensington includes the wards of St. Charles, Golborne,
Norland and Pembridge, whilst South Kensington is made up of the five other wards, namely,
Holland, Earl's Court, Queen's Gate, Redcliffe and Brompton.
Population.
The population of the borough as ascertained at the census in 1931 was 180,677 persons; but
for the purpose of this report, the population for 1936 has been estimated by the Registrar-General
to be 176,100.