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Disinfestation—Vermin—Insect Pests
This work is carried out from two centres, Lissonia and Wedlake Street Medicinal Baths, Kensal
Road, by a staff of five disinfectors who also deal with disinfestation.
The insecticide used generally is composed of Kerosene with 10 per cent. D.D.T. and 0.1 per cent,
pyrethrins and for specialized treatments, proprietary insecticides, fluid or powder, of either dieldrin,
pybuthrin, malathion, gamma BHC, chlordane, lindane, or other formulation, to suit the type of
infestation.
It is upon the skill and experience of the operators that insect disinfestation depends for the best
results, particularly in domestic premises where the residents' personal possessions require careful
handling.
In business premises where insect control is a matter of routine maintenance, it is advised that a
service firm be employed.
During the year, 965 rooms were disinfested and articles requiring disinfestation by heat were
treated in a large steam disinfector situated at the Wedlake Street Medicinal Baths.
Verminous Persons
The cleansing of persons baths at Lissonia and Wedlake Street dealt with 1,332 verminous persons:
adults 1,007 (men 883, women 124); children 325 (boys 96, girls 229).
Scabies
The two establishments mentioned in the foregoing paragraph treated 247 scabies patients:
adults 170 (men 96, women 74); children 77 (boys 27, girls 50).
Impetigo
No cases of impetigo were referred to the Department during the year for treatment.
Disinfection
During the year, 48 rooms, 1,173 articles of bedding and clothing, and 681 books were disinfected.
The Department continued to be asked by residents to certify that clothing intended for despatch
to foreign countries, mainly in central and eastern Europe, was free from infection. Disinfection
was carried out only when the articles concerned had actually been in contact with infectious disease.
Sixty-four certificates were issued indicating that no infectious disease had been reported for at least
one month at the premises from which the clothing was purported to have come.
Special Laundry Service
The Health Department operates a service for laundering bed linen and clothing of acutely ill and
incontinent or very dirty and verminous old people. In each case a certificate is given by the Medical
Officer of Health under the provisions of Section 84 of the Public Health Act, 1936, and the work
is carried out by the staff of the Department's laundries at 217 Lisson Grove and at Wedlake Street
Baths. During 1965 a total of 5,051 bags each containing about 10 lbs. of soiled linen were collected
the contents laundered and returned to the owners.
CORONER'S COURT AND MORTUARY
The Coroner's Court and Mortuary is situated in Horseferry Road, S.W.1. Prior to 1965 it received
bodies from the "old" City of Westminster only, to the number of about 280-300 per year.
Under the reorganization of London Government, arrangements were made by H.M. Coroner
(Western District) for the mortuary to receive bodies under his jurisdiction from the area of the "new"
City of Westminster and from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. In anticipation of
this increased use, additional post-mortem tables and refrigerated accommodation were provided
early in 1965, and the revised arrangements came into operation during March, 1965. The total
number of bodies received during 1965 amounted to 1,062, and it is estimated that in a full year the
number could rise to some 1,200. Post-mortem examinations rose from 284 in 1964 to 1,049 in 1965.
The additional work has been undertaken with only two additional mortuary assistants, the staff
comprising a Superintendent, First Mortician, four mortuary assistants and a cleaner. It is to the
credit of the Superintendent and his small staff that the Coroner's Court and Mortuary have operated
so efficiently and smoothly notwithstanding the increased pressure under which the building and the
staff have had to work.
A financial arrangement has been made with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in
respect of bodies from that borough accommodated in the Mortuary, and the Greater London Council