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In order to comply with legal requirements, the Medical Officer of Health has been
given a general authority by the Council to take whatever action appears to him to be
necessary under the terms of the Act in order to fulfil the great need for such a service in
the borough.
During the year, 2,356 separate collections of laundry were made and the number of
articles cleansed totalled 28,695. The articles were marked, collected and laundered at the
Council's disinfecting station, and returned to the persons' homes.
Issue of Medical Aids and Loan Equipment
During the year, the disinfecting staff also made 3,714 visits to deliver or collect
loan equipment (wheelchairs, hoists, commodes, etc.) and to distribute incontinence pads,
interliners and pants at the request of the Council's officers and others who deal with the
problems of the handicapped and elderly.
PREVENTION OF DAMAGE BY PESTS
The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act, 1949, imposes a duty on occupiers of
premises to notify the Council of rodent infestation and the Council are required to ensure
that the borough is, as far as practicable, kept free from rats and mice. The Council deal
with rat and mouse infestation in dwelling houses without cost to the occupiers, but
expenditure incurred in treating infestations on commercial and industrial premises is
recovered from the owners. The Council are required to submit reports on:
(i) the extent of infestation;
(ii) special circumstances to which any undue presence of rats and mice
might be attributed; and
(iii) the nature and extent of co-operative working with contiguous local
authorities.
It has been confirmed with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that over
the past few years local authorities throughout the country have been receiving increasing
numbers of complaints of mice. The increase in the numbers of such complaints received by
local authorities in urban areas has risen quite markedly, particularly in London where most
of the Inner London Boroughs are finding great difficulty in dealing with the current mouse
problem.
So far as Kensington and Chelsea is concerned, the increase has been dramatic, rising
from 551 confirmed cases of mouse infestation in 1965, to 2,628 cases in 1972.
The reasons for the rapidly increasing number of complaints are not clear, but
factors influencing the position are:
(a) an increase in public awareness of the service offered by the Council;
(b) the increase in the number of houses in multiple occupation,
particularly single-room lettings, with the consequent storage of
waste foodstuffs throughout the entire premises and with no one
person responsible for good hygiene standards;
(c) the general increase in the amount of food available and the
carelessness in the disposal of waste food;
(d) increasing demands on the time of the rodent control staff as
complaints increase mean that less attention can be paid to each
individual job, with less chance of complete success;
(e) redevelopment work in certain areas had dispersed mice from the
demolished properties;