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2
Public Health Department,
Town Hall,
Hammersmith, W.6.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith.
Ladies and Gentlemen,—In accordance with the recommendation
of the Ministry of Health, the Annual Report
upon the Health of the Borough for the year 1939, which
I present herewith, is a very much abridged report and
consists largely of a series of tables and statistics dealing
with the vital services.
It will be appreciated that, with the commencement of
hostilities, the work of the Department was seriously disorganised,
and practically all the public services had to
be drastically curtailed.
Early in the year most members of the Staff had been
allocated to war-time duties, and immediately after the
declaration of war these officers took their places in the
Air Raids Precautions organisation.
In consequence of the evacuation of many mothers and
children to the country, a number of the infant welfare
and ante-natal clinics were closed down. This allowed the
Assistant Medical Officer to take over the supervision of
First Aid Posts, and a number of the Health Visitors to act
as Nurses in Charge. Some of the Sanitary Inspectors
undertook the duties of Superintendents of Stretcher
Party Depots, others acted as Liaison Officers at First Aid
Posts, and the Food Inspector was transferred temporarily
for service with the Food Control Committee.
As a result of this depletion of staff the ordinary work
of the Department was brought almost to a standstill.
Inspections under the Housing Acts were suspended, and