London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Lewisham 1966

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lewisham Borough]

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83
MORTUARIES, CREMATIONS, BURIALS AND EXHUMATIONS
Mortuaries
The two public mortuaries situated in the Borough receive bodies from other authorities'
areas, mainly Greenwich, as well as from Lewisham.
The number of bodies received into the Mortuaries during the year were as follows:

Table 65

Lewisham MortuaryDeptford MortuaryTotal
Bodies received from hospitals etc.544344888
Others522268790
Totals1,0666121,678

Cremations and Burials
The following statistics relating to cremations and burials are for the year 1st April,
1966 to 31st March, 1967.

Table 66

CemeteryNo. of burials
Hither Green994
Grove Park297
Ladywell65
Brockley75
Total1,431

There were 1,259 cremations carried out at Hither Green Crematorium.
One exhumation took place at Hither Green Cemetery.
MEDICAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR LONG-STAY IMMIGRANTS
At ports of arrival long-stay immigrants, both Commonwealth and alien, are referred
to medical inspectors and given a pamphlet printed in languages which they
are likely to understand. This is to encourage them to register with a medical practitioner
in their place of residence so that he can arrange for them to go to a mass
radiography unit, a chest clinic or a hospital for X-ray.
The health department is notified of the names and addresses of immigrants entering
the borough with the object of ensuring that at an early date the immigrants are
made aware of how to use the Health Service. An important aim of the department
is to secure by persuasion that those from countries with a high incidence of tuberculosis
have an X-ray of the chest as soon as possible. This applies particularly to
people arriving from the continent of Asia.
The following table, based on returns made to the Ministry of Health, shows the
number of immigrants that have been notified to the department during 1966, and
the number of successful visits made. Unsuccessful visits occur where the immigrant
has moved out of the borough and has left no forwarding address. Towards the
end of the year, however, much greater success was achieved in tracing transitory
immigrants, as the landlords of temporary accommodation had been persuaded
to keep records and inform us of the immigrants' whereabouts.