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City of Westminster
Health Department,
City Hall,
Telephone: TATe gallery 8070 Victoria Street,
S.W.I.
To the Right Worshipful The Mayor, Aldermen and
Councillors of the City of Westminster.
Mr. Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors,
I have the honour to present for your consideration a Report on the
health of the City of Westminster during the year 1964.
This Report is the last in a long series to be submitted to the Council
as one of the Metropolitan Boroughs. In 1900 the City of Westminster
was formed by the amalgamation of five parishes; in 1965 the new City
of Westminster has been formed by the amalgamation of three Metropolitan
Boroughs. The Health Department of the new City Council is
now responsible not only for the environmental health services formerly
provided by the boroughs of Paddington, St. Marylebone and Westminster,
but also for the personal health services previously provided in this
area by the London County Council. The closing of the present era of
London Government opens up a future of challenge and opportunity.
I am confident that all the staff of the new Health Department will
respond magnificently to the heavy tasks which lie ahead; and will
ensure that the existing high standards of service to the public are not
only maintained but expanded and improved wherever possible.
In his Annual Report for 1901, the then Medical Officer of Health,
Dr. Francis Allan, wrote of the amount of time which he and his staff had
spent in reorganizing the work of the Health Department and in
harmonizing the various systems in operation. The same can be said
of 1964—65 when the staff of the Health Department, in addition to
performing all their normal duties, have had to spend many hours in
the far greater reorganization which has recently taken place.
The various vital statistics for 1964 have been included in the Report
and show minor changes compared with the previous year. In 1901
Dr. Allan remarked in his Report that "the year 1901 was a healthy
one for children ..." In fact no fewer than 435 infants under one year
of age died—a mortality rate of 126. In 1964 there were only 23 infant
deaths—a rate of 22.59 per thousand live births. These figures speak for
themselves and reflect the greatly improved services now available for
mothers and children and the improved standards of living.