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
Kensington 1937
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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The following table shows the sources of the new notifications during the year:—
| Cases. | |
|---|---|
| Brompton Hospital | 27 |
| St. Charles Hospital | 26 |
| St. Mary Abbots Hospital | 16 |
| Hospitals and sanatoria other than above | 70 |
| Total cases notified by hospitals | 139 |
| General practitioners | 85 |
| Tuberculosis officer | 12 |
It will be noted that 59 per cent. of the cases are notified from hospitals or allied institutions.
In the case of Brompton Hospital, however, from which 27 primary notifications were received
during the year, most of these cases were sent by medical practitioners to the out-patient department
for diagnosis or were admitted to the wards from the tuberculosis dispensary as observation cases.
The following table shows the number of cases added to and the number removed from the notification register during the year:—
| Respiratory. | Non-respiratory. | Totals. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males. | Females. | Males. | Females | ||
| Cases on the register of notifications on 1st January, 1937 | 235 | 255 | 96 | 88 | 674 |
| Cases notified for the first time during the year | 100 | 89 | 19 | 28 | 236 |
| Cases brought to notice otherwise than by notification | 46 | 44 | 12 | 8 | 110 |
| Cases removed from the register during the year on account of having:— | |||||
| (a) recovered from the disease | 12 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 59 |
| 47 | 56 | 16 | 19 | 138 | |
| (c) died | 57 | 60 | 10 | 6 | 133 |
| Cases remaining on the register on 31st December, 1937 | 265 | 257 | 85 | 83 | 690 |
One of the characteristics of the population in North Kensington is that it is nomadic. This is apparently growing and it causes considerable difficulty in keeping the patients and their family contacts under supervision.
| Years. | Respiratory tuberculosis. | Non-respiratory tuberculosis. | Tuberculosis (all forms). | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deaths. | Deaths per 100,000 persons living. | Deaths. | Deaths per 100,000 persons living. | Deaths. | Deaths per 100,000 persons living. | |
| 1928 | 107 | 60 | 25 | 14 | 132 | 74 |
| 1929 | 120 | 68 | 17 | 10 | 137 | 78 |
| 1930 | 140 | 78 | 25 | 14 | 165 | 92 |
| 1931 | 127 | 70 | 21 | 12 | 148 | 82 |
| 1932 | 107 | 58 | 20 | 11 | 127 | 69 |
| 1933 | 124 | 58 | 14 | 8 | 138 | 76 |
| 1934 | 103 | 58 | 15 | 8 | 118 | 66 |
| 1935 | 78 | 44 | 11 | 6 | 89 | 50 |
| 1936 | 105 | 59 | 18 | 10 | 123 | 69 |
| 1937 | 114 | 65 | 16 | 9 | 130 | 74 |
During the year there has been a slight increase in the number of deaths registered as compared
with 1936. The influenza epidemic at the beginning of the year, which has already been noted,
seems to have been a major factor in bringing this about, but there is no reason to believe that the