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 1971
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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3
CITY OF WESTMINSTER
Telephone: Health Department,
01-828 8070 City Hall,
Victoria Street,
London, SW1E 6QJ
To The Right Worshipful The Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the City of Westminster.
My Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors,
I have the honour to present for your information my Annual Report on matters affecting the health of
the City of Westminster in the year 1971. Once again opportunity has been taken to include comparable
statistics of the previous year; they appear in the text in parentheses or elsewhere in a separate column.
As compared with 1970 there has been little change in the vital statistics shown on pages 11 and 12, except in the case of the infant mortality rate where there has been a marked reduction in deaths of children under one year of age per thousand live births, from 20.98 in 1970 to 13.35 in 1971. This is the lowest figure recorded since the new City came into being in 1965 and it is hoped that this welcome trend will continue.
| Year | Infant deaths | Westminster Infant death rate | England & Wales Infant death rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 74 | 18.72 | 19.0 |
| 1966 | 83 | 22.73 | 19.0 |
| 1967 | 75 | 21.13 | 18.4 |
| 1968 | 49 | 15.41 | 18.0 |
| 1969 | 65 | 22.42 | 18.0 |
| 1970 | 58 | 20.98 | 18.0 |
| 1971 | 35 | 13.35 | 18.0 |
One maternal death is recorded in the report. The person concerned was not a Westminster resident but
had come from France for termination of pregnancy.
A constantly occurring anomaly which appears when one examines the statistics over a number of years
relates to the adjusted birth rate which is always low when compared with the national average and
particularly to the percentage of live births that are illegitimate, which is always approximately double the
national figure. I feel that it would be useful to examine these discrepancies in more detail in an effort to
determine whether they are more apparent than real.
One of the important duties of a Medical Officer of Health is to record births and deaths occurring in the
area for which he is responsible. By studying variations over a number of years he is often able to gain
useful information about changing local conditions and the success or otherwise of measures designed to
combat health hazards and to relate conditions in his own area with what is occurring elsewhere.
As a first step towards making a true comparison of one year with another or one area with another the
"crude" numbers of births and deaths have first to be converted to "rates", e.g. deaths per thousand
population living in the area during the relevant period. In addition account must be taken of variations in
the age and sex composition of the populations being compared. As an example, a seaside town with a large
proportion of elderly residents would have a high death rate and a low birth rate for this reason alone
irrespective of any other factors influencing health or behaviour. Conversely, one of the new towns with a
young population containing many women of child-bearing age will have a high birth rate and a low death
rate.
In order to "iron out" differences due solely to age and sex variations the Registrar General each year
provides a figure — an "area comparability factor" — based on the known age structure of all the local
authority areas in the United Kingdom. The crude birth rate and death rate are multiplied by the area
comparability factor, giving an "adjusted" birth rate and death rate which can then be compared nationally.
So far as Westminster is concerned the "crude" figures, area comparability factors, and the adjusted rates
are set out in the vital statistics (pages 11 and 12).