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 1949
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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48
The resident population (estimated at 102,160) in 22,536 houses
receive water from the Metropolitan Water Board's mains or from deep
wells. There are some 96 deep wells still actively used and 18 reports
were received on the supplies drawn from these sources. In all but
3 of these 96, the water is used for domestic purposes, in those 3—
1 supply is used for cooling purposes.
1 for supplying boilers, and
1 is a standby in case of fire.
Disinfection and Disinfestation.
| Rooms. | Articles. | Articles. Destroyed. | Articles. Washed. | Vehicles. | Books. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disinfection | 636 | 10,441 | 495 | — | 50 | 429 |
| Disinfestation | 1,398 | 2,279 | 5,224 | — | 3 | — |
| Laundry towels | — | — | — | 5,875 | — | — |
| 2,034; | 12,720 | 5,719 | 5,875 | 53 | 429 |
Treatments.
| Men. | Women. | Children (under school age). | Children. (School). | Articles. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scabies | 45 | 78 | 82 | 227 | 4,333 |
| Head lice | — | 18 | 1 | 320 | 311 |
| Body lice | 190 | 43 | — | — | 4,063 |
| 235 | 139 | 83 | 547 | 8,707 |
Starlings.
During the present year, reference was made by the Public Health
Committee to the large numbers of starlings roosting in the City, particularly
in the vicinity of Trafalgar Square and Whitehall. Furthermore,
owners of buildings in this area protested about the nuisance caused by
the guano deposited by these birds. They referred to the deleterious
effects on stonework and the subsequent expense of cleaning the buildings.
A reliable authority has estimated that some 20,000 starlings roost
each night from October to March in this area, and accordingly the Public
Health Department made investigations to ascertain what methods might
be employed to reduce the number of starlings.
Guidance was sought from the Ministry of Agriculture, and Fisheries
but it was apparent from their reply that although such known methods
as trapping, shooting or poisoning were effective in country areas in
reducing the numbers of these birds, such methods would be impracticable
to apply to an urban area such as Westminster.