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
London County Council 1910
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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55
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
The following table shows the mortality from phthisis during the period 1901-1910 in groups of London sanitary districts, arranged in order of "social condition"' (a)
| Number of group of boroughs in order of "social condition" | Crude phthisis death-rate per 1,000 persons living. | Corrected death-rate per 1,000 persons living. | Corrected death-rate (London, 1,000). |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | 1.098 | 1.072 | 721 |
| II. | 1.288 | 1.234 | 830 |
| III. | 1.443 | 1.439 | 968 |
| IV. | 1.650 | 1.683 | 1,132 |
| v. | 1.938 | 2.037 | 1,370 |
| London | 1.487 | 1.487 | 1,000 |
Phthisis
death-rates
in relation to
" social
condition,"
1901-10.
Tables similar to the above have been published in previous annual reports, and the close
relationship existing between "social condition" and phthisis mortality is conspicuous. It will be
seen that in the lowest social group the death rate from phthisis is approximately twice that in the
highest group.
The Registrar-General has again included in the Annual Summary tables showing for London
and for each of the London sanitary districts the number of deaths from phthisis which occurred at
each age in each sex, distinguishing between those which occurred at home, in workhouse establishments,
in hospitals, and in lunatic and imbecile asylums, as well as the proportions of the total deaths
from phthisis which thus occurred.
In the years 1909 and 1910 these proportions in London were as follows:—
| Place of death. | Deaths—per cent, of total, 1909. | Deaths—per cent. of total, 1910. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males. | Females. | Males. | Females. | |
| Home | 44.1 | 55.4 | 43.9 | 54.6 |
| Workhouse establishments | 44.0 | 31.8 | 44.5 | 31.3 |
| Hospitals | 7.3 | 6.4 | 7.3 | 7.7 |
| Lunatic and imbecile asylums | 4.6 | 6.4 | 4.3 | 6.4 |
In 1909, 48.4 per cent. and in 1910, 48 0 per cent, of the total deaths occurred in the homes. The
proportions occurring in the homes in the several districts in 1910 varied between 28.5 per cent. in
St. Marylebone to 72 0 per cent. in Stoke Newington.
In the following table the districts are arranged
in order, according to the proportion in which deaths occur in the homes:—
| Deaths from phthisis occurring in the homes per cent, of total deaths from phthisis, males and females, 1910. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan borough. | Percentage. | Metropolitan borough. | Percentage. | Metropolitan borough. | Percentage. |
| St. Marylebone | 28.5 | St. Pancras | 43.7 | Kensington | 54.2 |
| Holborn | 31.4 | Southwark | 44.3 | Paddington | 54.7 |
| Westminster, City of | 37.1 | Chelsea | 44.8 | Deptford | 55.6 |
| London, City of | 37.9 | Poplar | 44.9 | Greenwich | 56.6 |
| Finsbury | 39.4 | Hammersmith | 45.5 | Hampstead | 57.1 |
| shoreditch | 40.0 | London | 48.0 | Battersea | 60.3 |
| Bethnal Green | 40.4 | Hackney | 48.3 | Wandsworth | 61.7 |
| Bermondsey | 41.7 | Camberwell | 50.2 | Lewisham | 62.2 |
| Stepney | 42.0 | Islington | 52.9 | Woolwich | 62.5 |
| Fulham | 43.5 | Lambeth | 53.9 | Stoke Newington | 72.0 |
If the above table be compared with that on page 53 showing the comparative phthisis
death-rates in London sanitary districts, it will be seen that the districts in which a smaller
proportion of the deaths occur at home than the London average are largely those in
which the phthisis death-rates are above the London average. The governing factor in both is the
proportion of the population which is poor. The poor go into Poor Law institutions to die, the poor
(a) See footnote (a) page 14.