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
Battersea 1939
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Battersea Borough]
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6
ERRATUM - Page 6, 4th paragraph lines 3-4:for
the words "decreased by 1 to 13" read
''remained at 14".
Sanitary Circumstances. The normal work of the department was carried on up to, and to a slightly diminished extent following, the outbreak of war. The following table gives the number of some of the items dealt with :—
| Complaints received | 3,471 | Water closets provided, etc. | 73 |
| House inspections | 31,034 | Smoke observations | 71 |
| Shops Act inspections | 27 | Notices served— | |
| Factory, &c., inspections | 2,015 | Intimation | 2,581 |
| Gipsy van inspections | 31 | Statutory-Sections 197 and 220 | 1,474 |
| Drains— | Fifth Schedule, etc. | 1,459 | |
| Smoke tests | 216 | Persons cleansed (including 2,820 school children) | 3,354 |
| Water tests | 1,711 | ||
| Relaid | 66 | Premises disinfected | 1,969 |
| Repaired | 240 | Articles disinfected | 40,112 |
| Plans received | 160 | Mortuary— | |
| Water supply— | Bodies received | 528 | |
| New houses certified | 160 | P.M. examinations | 475 |
| Additional to tenement houses | 34 | Inquests | 254 |
Legal proceedings to enforce various requirements or for the
recovery of penalties incurred by the breach of statutory requirements
were taken in 116 instances ; fines were inflicted amounting to
£70 5s. 0d., and costs to £48 19s. 6d.
Factories and Homework.—The number of factories in which
mechanical means are used decreased by 5 to 289, and of nonmechanical
factories by 19 to 202. Inspections of these premises
numbered 1,286. The number of homeworkers increased by 5
to 181.
Bakehouses numbered 51 at the end of the year, as at the
beginning, but two were closed during the year and two new ones
opened. The number of underground bakehouses decreased by
1 to 13. Five of the 51 premises do not rank as factories since
only the proprietor works on the premises. 121 inspections of
bakehouses were made during 1939.
Protection of the Food Supply.—1,200 samples (of which 443
were informally taken) were analysed by the Public Analyst.
Of these only 5 (one informal) were certified as being adulterated,
which gives a percentage of adulteration of 0.4, which is a new
low record.
750 of these samples were of milk, the percentage of adulteration
among which was 0.5. There were 109 dairies (milk shops) regisgistered
at the end of the year. 48 licences to sell tuberculin tested
milk and 60 for pasteurised milk were valid during 1939. 256
premises (excluding street stalls) were on the register for the manufacture,
storage or sale of ice cream, and 170 for the sale of preserved
foods and 69 as fish shops. Street stalls from which food was sold
numbered 146.