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
Greenwich 1968
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Greenwich Borough]
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143
The Borough participated in the "Help The Disabled" week
held 6th/12th October which commenced with a nondenominational
Church Service at Abbey Wood attended by His
Worship the Mayor. An exhibition held in the Victoria Hall at
Woolwich displayed the range of services available to the physically
handicapped and this was supplemented by a travelling
exhibition loaned and manned by the Central Council for the
Care of the Disabled. Open days held at the various centres
attracted little public attention.
Arrangements for holidays, shopping expeditions and Christmas
parties continued as before with great success.
Departmental registers cover not only the blind and partially
sighted but the deaf and dumb and those persons severely or
permanently handicapped by illness, injury or congenital deformity
and efforts made to make these registers more comprehensive is
shown by the overall total which, at the end of the year, was 122
higher than that for 1967.
The following table gives the numbers in the various registers and the rates which these represent per 1,000 population.
| No. | Rate per 1,000 pop. | |
|---|---|---|
| Blind | 442 | 1.91 |
| Partially Sighted | 193 | 0.84 |
| Physically Handicapped | 1,269 | 5.52 |
| 1,904 | 8.27 |
The rate of registered blindness in Greenwich at 1.91 is slightly
more favourable than that for Greater London (2.11) and for
England and Wales (2.09).
Although registration is normally a prerequisite to the provision
of services, no call for assistance goes unheeded by the department.