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His Worship The Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Metropolitan Borough of Padding ton.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present to you the Annual Report for the year 1947.
This Report comes exactly one hundred years after the appointment of the first Medical Officer of Health by the
City of Liverpool in 1847, and by the time this Report is printed the 100th anniversary of the passing of the first
Public Health Act in 1848 will be celebrated.
In some respects this period of 100 years of Public Health history will be regarded in the future as a period of
continuous development, neatly rounded off by the passsing of the National Health Service Act, 1946, with the appointed
day for its implementation on July 5th, 1948.
This is perhaps a convenient time to look back over the accomplishments under the legislation of the past hundred
years. The earliest complete record in the Health Department is that of the Sanitary Report of 1868, presented by Dr.
William Hardwicke to the Vestry of that period. It is unfortunate that some of the problems of that period are still
with us, but gratifying to notice progress in many directions. Dr. Hardwicke reports a death rate of 17.2 per 1,000 of
the 1868 population—the death rate for the present year being 12.29. Although the infant mortality figures were not
compiled in the same way it is possible to make a comparison. Dr. Hardwicke reports a rapidincrease in the population
between 1861 and 1868—the population at that time rising from 75,807 to 100,587 . . . the population increasing at the
rate of 3,511 per year. The mortality amongst children under the age of five years amounted to 650 children, compared
with 121 deaths in children under five years in a population of 127,000 in 1947. The Medical Officer of Health in 1868
had considerable worries, supervising workshops and in controlling mews premises, where the keeping of large numbers
of horses and vehicles appeared to be among the arduous problems being dealt with. Even at that time whole families
were residing in mews premises and carrying on a large variety of businesses. It will be remembered that at that time
large areas of the Borough, for example in the Maida Vale district, were not built-up areas, and the accommodating
of 100,000 people in the existing premises of the period must have caused considerable overcrowding. It is interesting
to note that many of the houses being built at that time, e.g. in Amberley Road and Netley Street, were subject to
multi-occupation from the start, and it would appear that many houses designed for single occupation have never
been so occupied. Coming to a later period in 1889, it is interesting to note that in Charles Booth's classic "Life and
Labour of the People "comment is made on overcrowding and congestion in the Lock Bridge area—a point already
mentioned by Dr. Hardwicke. The relevant maps in Charles Booth's work show little change from present occupation
of premises in Paddington, except that many of the large houses in the southern part of the Borough are no longer in
single occupation.
At this point I feel that it is necessary to issue a warning to many property owners in the Borough. Much of the
property is at present about 100 years old and it is unfortunate that from 1939 to 1945 it was not possible to carry
out much maintenance work. The Sanitary Inspectors have been so busy since then dealing with urgent matters of
repair that it has not been possible, in the time covered by this Report, to undertake house to house inspection of the
Borough. Property owners who relied in the past on the Sanitary Inspectors calling their attention to early dilapidation
of their property cannot rely on this service at the present time. It is only when tenants complain of defects that the
Inspector can deal with the property. This means that much of the dilapidation in the Borough is being ignored by
property owners because there have been no complaints. I would ask all property owners to ensure that property is
in good repair. It is no uncommon thing for a property owner when faced with an extensive schedule of repairs to
say that there have been no complaints for many years. It is obvious from the statment made that some property
owners do not carry out routine inspections of their property, and I feel that if this were done and repairs effected at an
early stage of dilapidation it would be possible to avoid large outlay of money, the use of considerable labour and
materials, by early attention to defects. There is an erroneous impression abroad that it is not possible to have repair
work carried out. Property owners will find that materials are available to remedy all sanitary nuisances, and the
Licensing Committee deals sympathetically with applications made to have work carried out for the preservation of
existing property. During 1947 the Sanitary Inspectors received 6,240 complaints and they made over 38,000
inspectoins of dwelling houses. It is because of the large amount of work which the Inspectors have to do in this
connection that property owners cannot look to the inspectorial staff to draw their attention to defects in property,
other than those which have been the subject of complaint.
It is gratifying to note that there has been a further fall in the infant mortality rate, and the death rate among
illegitimate children, usually higher than that amongst legitimate children, is this year surprisingly low. The reader
will note that the number of deaths from tuberculosis has also fallen, although there has been some increase in the
number of notifications of the disease. The position regarding sanatorium beds is still very far from satisfactory,
and this is one of the most serious problems which the new Regional Hospital Boards must tackle in 1948.