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combined Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea until his retirement.
He was a Medical Officer of Health who held strongly to the original
concept of preventive principles in all aspects of public health,
preventive and social medicine and the Borough owes him a very great
deal. He was an excellent and prolific writer on many subjects, was
always highly sought after as a speaker and he earned, and fully
deserved, an international reputation in the field of Public Health
generally. As he himself stated in his Annual Report for 1969, he
had seen many changes take place in the Borough during his period of
office, most of them for the better, though he viewed the possible future
organisation for all Health and Social Services with some foreboding.
I must also express my gratitude to Dr. Walker both as Dr.
Weir's very able Deputy and in the acting capacity which he held for
a period of several months in circumstances of increasing difficulty.
He maintained the high standard of work in and service by the
department, this made my take-over of responsibility from him much
easier than otherwise would have been the case.
Both Dr. Weir and Dr. Walker during the whole of the period
under reports had not only to cope with the normal duties of their
department but also the very considerable additional responsibilities
which the setting up of the new Social Services Department placed
on their shoulders.
In addition to the retirement of Dr. Weir, there were a number
of other changes of senior staff in the department. Mr. M.C. Downer,
the Principal Dental Officer, left to take up a Research Fellowship
with Manchester University and although an appointment was made his
position could not be filled before the end of the year. Mrs. M.
Smith, the Assistant Principal Social Worker (Health Services), left
to take a similar position with the London Borough of Hammersmith
and her place was taken in October by Miss R. Wurtzburg. Mr. D. Tinson
joined the service from the London Borough of Lambeth on 1st April,
1970, as Deputy Chief Administrative Officer. Mrs. J. Milne and
Mrs. H. Porebska, who had both been part-time dental officers, joined
the full-time staff.
Vital Statistics
Population - The population estimated by the Registrar
General is 203,730 and compares with 208,480 in 1969.
Birth Rate - The number of live births per 1,000 population
of the borough was 12.3 as in the previous year.
Death Rate - The number of deaths per 1,000 population
in 1970 was 10.6 and compares with 10.4 in the previous year.