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
Paddington 1907
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]
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48
ADMINISTRATIVE WORK.
With regard to the erection of a disinfection station for the Borough, no visible progress
has to be reported. Several proposals have been before the Council, duly discussed, and the
majority of them rejected. The process of elimination has, it is believed, brought a final
settlement nearer, in spite of the apparent stagnation of the negotiations.
Water Supply.—There was a considerable reduction (from 141 in 1906 to 81 last year),
in the number of notices of discontinuance of water supply, received from the Metropolitan
Water Board, in pursuance of Section 49 (1) of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891. The
reasons for the discontinuance of the supply were reported by the Inspectors to be:—
Empty premises 54 Defective water fittings 19
Houses in course of demolition 4 Lnpaid water rates 4
The restoration of the supply was, on the whole, secured to the 21 occupied houses more
promptly than in the past. To 9 of such houses the supply was re-established in 24 hours, the
intervals in the other cases, being:—
3 days, 2 houses. 6, 8, 10 and 14 days. 1 house, each.
4 days, 4 houses. 3 weeks. 2 houses.
Notices demanding restoration of the supply were issued with respect to 5 houses, two
being subsequently referred to the Solicitor. Proceedings in the Court were not, however,
found necessary in any case.
Mortuaries .—During the past year 290 bodies .were received at the two mortuaries, an increase of nine over the total for 1906. The principal details of last year's figures are given below:—
| Paddington Green. | Kensal Road. | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of bodies received | 269 | 21 |
| Coroner's cases | 192 | 17 |
| Awaiting burial:— | ||
| Infectious cases | 3 | |
| Other „ | 74 | 4 |
| P.M. examimations made | 97 | 11 |
The By-laws adopted by the Council in March of last year, were confirmed by the
Local Government Board on May 11th. No proceedings have been found to be necessary
as yet, but cautionary letters have been addressed to certain undertakers on account of delays
in removing bodies for burial.
Schools.—The distribution of the infectious disease of childhood, as regards the Public
Elementary Schools, is indicated by the figures given in Table 33. This Table has been
constructed in a somewhat different manner to that adopted in previous years. On this
occasion the return is limited to the infected families actually sending children to named
schools, and does not include all the families in the infected houses. The result is that this
year's numbers in the "P.N.A." columns, are smaller than those given in earlier tables. It is