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Annual Report on the Health and Sanitary
Condition of the City of Westminster.
1920.
Mr. Mayor, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present my Annual Report for the year 1920.
It includes Returns required by the Ministry of Health and Home
Office. The replies to the questions asked by the various departments
of the Ministry, especially those relating to Tuberculosis work, occupy
a good deal of space and make the Report larger than is desirable in
the interests of economy.
In reviewing the various activities of the Public Health Department,
one cannot help being struck by the great increase in the number
of duties which have been placed upon local authorities in the last
twenty years. It is impossible in an Annual Report to give an idea of
the great amount of detail work which has to be carried out. Much
more office and clerical work has to be performed by the Medical
Officer, and the preparation of the Annual Report has, to a considerable
extent, to be done in overtime.
During the year Conferences have been held to consider how best
the administration of Public Health matters in London may be
improved. The subject is a complicated one, involving the duties
performed by the County Council, the Borough Councils, the Metropolitan
Asylums Board and the Boards of Guardians. The recommendations
of the Conferences were in the direction that administrative
duties should fall upon the central authorities, leaving those of
aw executive character to the Borough Councils.
A Conference of representatives of the County Council and the
Borough Councils was also held to consider the best means for dealing
with measles, and of verminous conditions as affecting both children
and adults, and suggestions were made which may prove helpful in
improving the services rendered.
In 1920 the number of births recorded were considerably above the
average, and thus much extra work fell upon the Maternity and Child
Welfare Centres, and the effect will last through the next five years,
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