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SECTION 7.
STATISTICAL TABLES
There is always need for great care in studying statistical tables, and
the temptation to read more into figures than they do, in fact, convey
must be avoided. For example, the thoroughness with which the inspection
of a Borough is carried out cannot be discovered merely from a study of
the number of inspections under any one heading or group of headings.
It is obvious, for example, that an inspection of a house with a view to
action under Section 9 of the Housing Act must necessitate many hours
work whereas a visit in connection with a leaky roof or a blocked flue may
take only as many minutes.
When comparing the figures for infectious diseases by wards in the
Borough the varying populations of the wards should be taken into account.
No exact figures are available but the populations of the wards to the
nearest hundred are estimated to be as follows:—
Hundreds Hundreds
Highgate 160 North Haringey 79
Muswell Hill 190 South Haringey 80
Crouch End 82 Stroud Green 162
Central Hornsey 170 Finsbury Park 74
The number of separately assessed inhabited premises is stated as
24,822, an apparent fall since last year of over 2,000 premises. This is due
to the fact that lock-up shops, garages and other premises which are
separately assessed for rates have been excluded from the figure this year.
It will be seen that the infant death rate in Hornsey was 24.1, an increase
of 2.9 per thousand. The rate for 126 county boroughs and great towns
(which includes the Borough of Hornsey) has also increased by .1 per
thousand; the rate for the smaller towns, on the other hand, has fallen
by 1.8 per thousand to 27.6. The downward trend in the national figures
for infant mortality has continued and the 1951 rate of 29.6 is the lowest
ever recorded in this country.
Again there was only one maternal death in Hornsey during the year
and the rate for the whole of the country once more shows a fall—from
0.87 in 1950 to 0.79.
The great increase in the number of notified cases of puerperal pyrexia
is due to the change in its definition. This is dealt with more folly in the
Section on Infectious Disease.
The increase in the number of notifications of dysentery from 10 in
1950 to 132 in 1951 was largely due to the outbreak in a Hornsey school
which has been described elsewhere in this report.
The area comparability factors for births and deaths allowing for the
differing age and sex distribution of the population are: births 0.89 and
deaths 0.92. The Hornsey rates multiplied by these factors become
13.08 and 9.67 respectively.
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