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
City of Westminster 1914
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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Notices were served in respect of 658 defects discovered in 268 houses. They may be summarised thus:—
| 1913. | 1914. | 1913. | 1914. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanitary accommodation :— | Walls and ceilings dirty | 324 | 292 | ||
| Rooms verminous | 47 | 39 | |||
| Insufficient | 3 | 2 | Rooms overcrowded | 6 | 9 |
| Not kept separate | 44 | 16 | Rooms badly ventilated | 16 | 7 |
| Unsuitable | 5 | 3 | Gas stoves and heaters unventilated | 18 | 8 |
| Apparatus defective | 95 | 77 | |||
| Requiring cleansing | 39 | 32 | Other defects (dampness, defective roofs, floors, water supply, dust bins, &c.) | 192 | 232 |
| Ventilation defective | 1 | 3 | |||
| Drains, sinks, &c., defective | 24 | 38 |
In 11 instances statutory notices had to be served before the work
required was done. In several instances where the rooms were dirty
or verminous the outworker was seriously warned.
Three underground rooms used as workrooms were unfit to be so
used, and their use discontinued.
Infectious Disease.—A list of the cases of notifiable infectious diseases
which occurred in families engaged in the making, &c., of wearing
apparel, are given below. It was unnecessary to stop their work except
temporarily during the time disinfection was being carried out:—
Smallpox.
Scarlet
Fever.
Diphtheria.
Typhoid
Fever.
Total.
Clothing trades:—
(a) Business in family affected .. — 25 (17) 13 (10) 3 (1) 41 (28)
(b) Business in other parts of house — 14(13) 12 (6) — 26 (19)
(c) Persons from infected houses
employed in clothing business
elsewhere — 42 10 — 52
The figures in brackets represent outworkers' premises.
Laundries.—There are 43 laundries in which washing is done,
besides which there are a number of private houses in which mangling
only is done.
Notices were served to remedy various defects found on inspection.
These comprised:—
Walls dirty 1 Accumulation of refuse 1
Drains defective 1
Two cases of scarlet fever occurred in rooms used as a laundry.