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REPORT
of the Medical Officer of Health
for the year 1952
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg herewith to present to you the Annual Report on the health
and sanitary conditions of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth
for the year 1952.
The Report, which in form follows closely that adopted by my
predecessor, deals with many matters touching the health of the
people of Wandsworth, and here all I need do is to indicate generally
some of the more interesting and important details.
Before doing this, however, I should like to refer to the long and
distinguished service to the Borough Council of my predecessor,
Dr. F. G. Caley.
Dr. Caley retired from the service of the Council on the 6th of
January, 1952, when I had the privilege of taking over responsibility
for the Public Health Department. His retirement terminated an
active career in the public health service which had been spent
almost entirely with the Wandsworth Metropolitan Borough
Council. He was first appointed by the Council in 1913 as Tuberculosis
Officer and Deputy Medical Officer of Health. On the
outbreak of war in 1914 he joined the R.A.M.C. and served with
that Corps until he returned to civilian duties in 1919. In 1923,
when the late Dr. Caldwell Smith died suddenly, Dr. Caley was
appointed in his place and held the position of Medical Officer of
Health with marked distinction until his retirement in 1952.
Dr. Caley, therefore, had upwards of 40 years' service in the
Public Health Department of Wandsworth, and during this period
was intimately associated with the great expansion of the health
and social services of the borough. In the earlier years of his service
his interest was particularly in the field of tuberculosis, its prevention
and cure, and later on he extended his interests very greatly, giving
attention particularly to the development of the maternity and child
welfare services, and playing an active part in connection with slum
clearance. In 1938, through his appointment as Training Officer,
he became responsible for the training of civil defence personnel in
first aid and anti-gas precautions, and when in 1939 war was again
declared, Dr. Caley was made responsible for the first aid posts
and the light rescue parties, which in a borough of the size of
Wandsworth, forming part of the vulnerable metropolitan area,
involved a heavy weight of responsibility.
I should like to say how easy it was for me to take over from
Dr. Caley, and this can be attributed in no small measure to the