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
Holborn 1932
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Holborn Borough]
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54
Enquiries in Notified Cases of Rheumatism.
Enquiries into the housing conditions of the notified cases showed that 39 lived in
satisfactory artisan self-contained flats; 20 lived in satisfactory artisan homes in divided
houses of a comfortable type (a better class of house let in lodgings); 32 lived in houses let
in lodgings; 7 lived in artisan dwellings of an old type, not self-contained, but superior to
ordinary houses let in lodgings; and two were not traced as a result of incorrect addresses.
Eleven of these children have removed from the Borough, and one died in 1932 of rheumatic
carditis.
It is somewhat curious to note the incidence of acute rheumatism in satisfactory homes.
Dampness in Houses.
Dampness was found in only throe houses, due to temporary nuisances which were
remedied.
Lighting and Ventilation.
Two children lived in semi-basement flats, and although the lighting was not good, the flats
Were well built and the street and courtyard adjoining fairly wide, so that lighting and
ventilation compared not unfavourably with upper floors in narrow streets and small courtyards.
In five other cases the lighting was poor.
Most of the remaining homes were well ventilated and the lighting good; in no case was
ventilation or lighting markedly unsatisfactory.
Overcrowding and Sleeping Accommodation.
There was no evidence of legal overcrowding in any of the houses; this standard is
notably low however. The sleeping arrangements are given in the following table :—
| No. of Rheu matic Children | Separate Room | Separate Bed in Living Room | Separate Bed in Room shared with | Bed shared with | Bed shared in living room with | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults | Children | Adults and Children | Adults | Children | Adults and Children | Child | Adults and Children | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| 96 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 96 | 8 | 6 | 39 | 41 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
* Exclusive of two cases where wrong addresses given, and one where the patient died shortly
after the date of notification, and one where the child removed immediately after
notification.
It will be seen that only eight children had a separate room; thirty-nine had a separate
bed in a shared room; forty-one shared a bed, ten of these with more than one person; eight
children had a bed in the living room, a very unsatisfactory arrangement, seeing the child is
disturbed by the late and uncertain hours of going to bed kept by the rest of the family, and
also the possibility of disturbance at an early or earlyish hour in the morning.
In some instances where the beds were shared, the reason given was the small size of the
rooms which made it difficult to get other beds in; whether the bunk bed is a possible solution
of this difficulty is not clear, ashore it is an innovation and therefore not popular. Moreover,
it is not obtainable at many shops and second-hand stalls, and its existence is overlooked. It
is not hygienic for anyone to share a bed.
Social Conditions.
Six children live in one-room homes. In nine homes there is a history of chronic
poverty, but without acute distress; in two of these the mother has been many years widowed;