View report page

3
To His Worship the Mayor, the Aldermen and Councillors of the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present to you my Annual Report for the year 1946. In submitting this report on the Public
Health of the Borough I would point out that I commenced duty in Paddington on November 1st, 1946 and in
consequence my knowledge of many of the matters contained in the report is not first hand.
It is interesting to note that in his Annual Reports at the end of the 1914-1918 war the late Dr. Dudfield commented
on the uncertainty attached to deductions drawn from the Vital Statistics and it was not until the 1921 Census figures
were available that he attached full importance to the Statistics. The same is true to-day; the return of men and
women from the forces, the return of families from evacuation, the redistribution of the population after war
damage to property, the changing character of different districts in the Borough, all influence the figures before us.
Interpretation of the figures is difficult when so many factors are operating simultaneously.
Of interest in the Vital Statistics is the birth-rate figure showing a substantial rise from 17.16 per 1,000 to 20.28,
and also the infant mortality figure of 47 deaths per 1,000 live births, the lowest figure yet recorded in Paddington.
A more disquieting figure is the increase in the number of notified cases of tuberculosis as well as the increased
number of deaths from this disease. Why this increase has happened is not clear but it is well to remember that,
other things being equal, nutrition and housing are regarded as major factors in the incidence and spread of this disease.
It is appropriate at this point to speak of Nutrition and Housing, both of such importance to the Public Health.
Much has been said about Nutrition in the recent past and if these few remarks persuade the reader to discount the
majority of the opinions which have been expressed they will have achieved a useful purpose. Apart from the study
of special groups, e.g. expectant mothers, babies and schoolchildren, there is no true scientific base line from which to
work in a comparison between 1939 and the present day. The figures available for the special groups mentioned show
an improvement but these groups are privileged classes of the community in the eyes of the Ministry of Food, and
rightly so. Opinions expressed about any other group or groups of the community are purely speculative and probably
largely of a subjective and even political nature. It is of little account that distinguished nutrition experts and
hygienists say that they do or do not feel the same as they did in 1939; how can they ? They are all seven or eight
years older for one thing. In the face of a world food shortage we cannot expect the position to improve for some
time. That the alternative foods to relieve the monotony of our diet are exotic, scarce and therefore expensive is
unfortunate but unavoidable. Apart from the expectant mothers, babies, and schoolchildren who qualify for
supplementary food there is one class of the community deserving every consideration. The old people are at a disadvantage,
particularly those living alone, with a ration for a single person; perhaps pensioners unable to afford
restaurant meals, and perhaps unfit to go shopping or queue for unrationed food. Welfare provision for the old is a
service yet to be developed and this question of the feeding of the aged is as yet unanswered.
The problem of housing confronting the Council is a many-sided one of considerable magnitude. Apart from the
provision of new building and conversion work by the Engineer's Department, the maintenance and repair of existing
dwellings presented a task beyond the resources of the Public Health Department staff as it existed at the end of the
War. The Council took immediate steps to increase the staff available to deal with the inspection of property and the
full result of this action should be evident in the report for 1947.
Six years of war, with the cessation of repair and maintenance work, the effects of bomb-damage, and the fact
that much of the property in the borough is 100 years old and that much of it has become property let in lodgings has
resulted in a large accumulation of arrears in repairs to property. Shortage of labour and materials has made it necessary
to limit repairs to those essential to conform to statutory sanitary notices.