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 1913
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]
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64
CANCER.
cases ending fatally last year one was with a reputed duration of over 30 years. On an average
the disease runs a course of some three years, a period of sufficient length for the operation of
many factors other than death resulting in the removal of names from the Register. Of the cases
reported during the past year 126 names were removed owing to the patients leaving their original
addresses. Many of those patients left the Borough, and the medical officers of health of the
districts to which the patients went were advised of the removals. In other instances the new
addresses were not known. A few of the latter cases are subsequently traced and restored to the
Register. Recovery—perhaps more correctly, the arrest of the disease—was reported in 13
instances, and in 13 other cases the diagnosis was subsequently reviewed. The appended scheme
shows the growth and changes in the Register since its establishment. Of the 42 cases entered
during 1904-6 only one is known to the Department as still alive. In the course of the 11 years
3,263 names have been entered, but all the persons represented by those names have not been
certified as definitely tuberculous. At the close of last year the Register contained 2,779 names,
1,777 representing " definite " cases of tuberculosis and 1,002 " suspect "*
| 1903. | 1904. | 1905. | 1906. | 1907. | 1908. | 1909. | 1910. | 1911. | 1912. | 1913. | |||||||
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CANCER.
The number of deaths entered under this heading, after attaining a maximum of 185 in 1908
decreased to 156 in the next year. Since then the numbers have increased each year to 167 in 1911,
175 in 1912, and 185 last year. The mortality records in the Department relating to the Borough
cover a period of twenty-three years, and the appended figures show how the deaths from the
malignant new growths included under the designation of "Cancer" have increased both absolutely
and relatively to the numbers of deaths from all causes. The population of that part of
" Chelsea Detached " which was added to the old Parish of Paddington when the Borough was
formed with its present boundaries is "younger" in its age-constitution than the old Parish
which forms the major part of the Borough. For that reason the figures for each of those two
sections of the Borough are shown separately.
| 1891-5. | 1896-1900. | 1901-5. | 1906-10. | 1911. | 1912. | 1913. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deaths recorded from All Causes. | |||||||
| Borough | 11,620 | 11,400 | 10,102 | 9,512 | 1,926 | 1,771 | 1,979 |
| Queen's Park Ward | 1,387 | 1,495 | 1,234 | 1,064 | 221 | 185 | 229 |
| Deaths recorded from Cancer. | |||||||
| Borough | 704 | 746 | 848 | 167 | 175 | 185 | |
| Queen's Park Ward | 54 | 78 | 88 | 82 | 16 | 15 | 18 |
| Ratio of Deaths from Cancer to Total Deaths. | |||||||
| Borough | 5.1 | 6.1 | 7.3 | 8.9 | 8.6 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| Queen's Park Ward | 3.8 | 5.2 | 7.1 | 7.7 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 7.8 |
*Owing to pressure of other work the visitation of cases of tuberculosis was far from complete last year, and the
numbers of persons on the Register at the end of the year cannot be accepted as evidence of the number of tuberculous
persons living in the Borough. In the early months of this year a very large number of names were removed
as the patients had left the addresses at which they were last known and could not be traced.