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 1937
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]
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The Vest Fund is maintained by a small Association of Ladies connected with the School, who
knit garments and woollies which are sold at low cost to mothers at the Centres.
The stock of clothing and the financial balance are augmented by gifts from friends, and the
money realised is spent on dentures, convalescence, etc., already referred to.
Consultation Centres.
Summary of Work for the Year 1937.
| Harrow Road. | Third Avenue. | Macroom Road. | St. Mary's Terrace. | Queens- boro' Passage. | Totals. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tues. | Thurs. | Tues. | Fri. | Wed. | Thurs. | Wed. | Fri. | Mon. | ||
| Number of Sessions | 51 | 51 | 51 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 51 | 50 | 48 | 452 |
| Number of Attendances | 2,494 | 2,285 | 4,232 | 3,058 | 3.615 | 3,527 | 3,224 | 2,492 | 3,464 | 28,391 |
| Average Attendance | 49.0 | 44.8 | 83.0 | 61.1 | 72.3 | 70.5 | 63.2 | 49.8 | 72.1 | |
| Seen by Doctor | 1.193 | 1,178 | 1,332 | 1,002 | 1,183 | 978 | 1,152 | 922 | 1,117 | 10,057 |
| Average number seen by Doctor at each Session | 23.4 | 23.0 | 25.7 | 23.6 | 19.5 | 22.6 | 18.4 | 23.2 | ||
The total number of children attending the consultations was 2,761, 978 being under 1 year
of age and 1,783 between the ages of 1 and 5 years.
Ante-Natal and Post-Natal Clinics.
| Harrow Road. | Macroom Road. | |
| Number of Sessions | 50 | 51 |
| Number of Attendances | 681 | 560 |
| Number of Expectant or Recently Confined Mothers who Attended | 317 | 223 |
| Average Attendance per Session | 13.6 | 11.0 |
| Number of Cases Referred by Midwives in Private Practice | _ | _ |
Consultative and Physical Treatment Centre.
| Number of Attendances | 3,171 |
| Number of Cases | 230 (of which 167 were new) |
| Classification of Cases— | |
| Artificial Sunlight only | 64 |
| Artificial Sunlight and Massage | 66 |
| Massage only | 70 |
| Dietetic only | 30 |
| Treatments given— | |
| Artificial Sunlight | 1,538 |
| Massage | 2,165 |
The following report has been received from Dr. R. Cove-Smith on the work carried out at
the Centre :—
"The total number of attendances duringl937 was 3,171. During the year 230 cases attended
for treatment. Thirty of these were attending for dietetic advice alone, but the other two hundred
were having physical treatment as well, 64 having Ultra-Violet Light, 70 having Massage and 66
having both Ultra-Violet Light and Massage.
Of these 230 cases 21 were under one year and the remaining 209 between one and five years
of age.
Definite advances in medical knowledge have been made recently along dietetic lines and
these advances must be followed up and consolidated if improvement .in child health is to be
still further accelerated. It is difficult to make standards of comparison as we have no real
" normal " by which to work and the " average " is so woefully below the optimum. Yet at the
same time gradual change in habits, a greater availability and variation in foods and a better
knowledge of food values is gradually being disseminated so that severe cases of deficiency
diseases are becoming rarer. Several cases of erythroedema (pink disease) have been diagnosed,
one of which was exceptionally severe, while three cases of congenital anal stenosis attended
for treatment.