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
Lewisham 1971
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lewisham Borough]
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All were satisfactory except for 17 ice cream samples which were graded III
and IV. This does not show much improvement on last year and is to be regretted.
210 complaints were investigated during the year. 846 samples were submitted to
the Public Analyst and 22 were found to be adulterated. The meat content was low
in a number of meat products and this was taken up with the wholesalers and
manufacturers.
Offices and Shops
There was a reduction of 120 in the number of registered premises at the end of the
year. This was accounted for by a reduction in the number of retail shops. There
was a reduction of nearly 500 in the staff employed. The number of accidents fell
from 75 to 70. The conditions did not continue to improve and where in 1970 it was
necessary to call attention to the poor standard of cleanliness in 38 cases, it is
regretted that the figure rose to 71 in 1971. Many of the other defects also showed
a considerable increase.
Rodent Control
The number of properties inspected for rats and mice during the year fell from
4,215 to 3,908. This was due to a silght fall in rat and mice infestation. It will be
seen from the graphs in the report that whilst the rat infestation continued a
downward trend throughout the year the mice infestation showed an upward trend
again in the last two quarters of the year. It was necessary to carry out 3,252
re-treatments compared with 3.645. Five Block Control Schemes involving 178
premises were carried out.
Disinfection and Personal Cleansing
The number of rooms disinfected rose sharply from 1,949 to 2,942 but the articles
disinfected fell from 26,569 to 22,334. Articles cleansed also fell from 87,837 to
81,470. Verminous children cleansed rose from 648 to 686 but adults fell from
733 to 652. The figures for scabies continued to rise for both children and adults.
During 1971 it was necessary to treat 1,331 children and 855 adults for scabies
compared with 1,108 and 728 the previous year. It is hoped that in next year's
report it will be possible to show a reduction in these figures.
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