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
St George (Southwark) 1896
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southwark, The Vestry of the Parish of St. George the Martyr]
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46 Parish of St. George the Martyr, Southwark.
ROOM DISINFECTION.—
| Vestry or District Board, | In cases were infectious disease has occurred and the rooms have been disinfected by your Sanitary Staff, is it the practice of your Authority to subsequently serve notices on Owners of property to strip and cleanse the walls, &c., of the rooms? | If this practice is followed, are the notices generally complied with, without resort to the Magistrates? |
|---|---|---|
| Vestry of St. Luke, Middlesex | Yes, and if in the opinion of the Sanitary Inspector the room should be stripped by reason of having more than one paper on the walls | Yes. If not, the Vestry would proceed to do the work itself, as provided by sec. 60 of the Public Health (Lond.) Act, 1891 |
| Vestry of St. Margaret and St. John, Westminster | Yes | Yes |
| Vestry of St. Martin-in-the-fields | The disinfection is done by contract (Mr. Lacy), and it is not our practice to cause walls to be stripped after disinfection | Notice to cleanse have at all times been obeyed by owners of property |
| Vestry of St. Marylebone | Only when they are dirty, or in exceptional cases | In no case as yet has it been necessary to have resource to a magistrate, the notices having been complied with |
| Vestry of St. Mary, Newington | Only in cases where the rooms are so dirty as to be in our judgment injurious to health, and these are followed up when necessary by recourse to a magistrate | |
| Board of Works for the St. Olave District | Yes | Yes |
| Vestry of Paddington | In special cases only | Have never had any difficulty |
| Vestry of St. Pancras | Stripping and cleansing is part of the process of cleansing and disinfection | Notices to cleanse and disinfect are sometimes complied with— sometimes not; when not complied with, the Authority does the work |
| Vestry of Poplar | Smallpox cases—the rooms are always stripped by the Board. For other diseases, after fumigation, if the rooms are dirty, notices are served in the usual way | If it were necessary to strip the walls the Board's staff would do the work. Notices used to be served under the 60th sec. P.H. (Lond.) Act, 1891, but the owners did not comply with them, therefore, the Sanitary Authority at its own cost had to do the work |
| Vestry of Rotherhithe | No. The rooms are cleansed and disinfected by the Sanitary Authority on default of owner or occupier, vide sec. 60 (1) and (2) Public Health (Lond.) Act, 1891 |