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 1946
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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| 1938 | 1939 | 1945 | 1946 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (i) Admissions to Council's establishments: | ||||
| Infectious hospitals | 35,580 | 20,002 | 14,922 | 13,506 |
| General hospitals | 82,636 | 49,820 | 55,065 | 70,037 |
| Hospitals for tuberculosis | 3,877 | 3,003 | 2,984 | 2,779 |
| Hospitals for sick children | 10,235 | 7,395 | 1,387 | 1,644 |
| Mental hospitals | 3,452 | 3,469 | 2,510 | 3,116 |
| Others | 310 | 317 | 186 | 259 |
| 136,090 | 84,006 | 77,054 | 91,341 | |
| (ii) Transfers | 26,971 | 17,063 | 13,647 | 14,718 |
| (iii) Discharges | 23,171 | 13,114 | 16,994 | 28,110 |
| (iv) Returned—mistaken diagnosis | 9 | 28 | 15 | 7 |
| (v) Removals—for accident section | 169 | 214 | 288 | 490 |
| (vi) Removals—Education service | 14,235 | 8,823 | 5,014 | 6,862 |
| (vii) Removals—Social Welfare service | 5,181 | 4,798 | 2,050 | 3,272 |
| (viii) Sick staff | 401 | 220 | 164 | 270 |
| (ix) Visitors to patients | 30 | 37 | 1 | 8 |
| (x) Staff (not sick staff) | 7,446 | 3,723 | 30,663 | 42,778 |
| (xi) Other journeys | 663 | 629 | 6,413* | 339 |
| (xii) Upon payment for hire | 11,018 | 9,255 | 10,215 | 8,327 |
| (xiii) Friends accompanying patients, etc. | 95,044 | 58,270 | 67,056 | 84,906 |
| (xiv) Refugees (1945): Free removals— voluntary hospitals (1946) | — | — | 19 | 6,352 |
| 320,428 | 200,180 | 229,593 | 287,780 | |
* Includes nearly 6,000 persons conveyed under the mass radiography scheme.
LONDON AUXILIARY AMBULANCE SERVICE
| Year | London regional groups | Disposal of cases | Men | Women | Children | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | II | III | IV | V | Hospital | F.A.P. | ||||||
| L.C.C. | Vol. | |||||||||||
| 1940* | 3,228 | 2,919 | 4,806 | 3,471 | 5,527 | 6,910 | 6,893 | 6,148 | 9,848 | 9,046 | 1,057 | 19,951 |
| 1941 | 1,159 | 1,328 | 2,182 | 1,339 | 2,155 | 2,242 | 3,901 | 2,020 | 4,471 | 3,381 | 311 | 8,163 |
| 1942 | — | — | — | — | 73 | 14 | 32 | 27 | 29 | 33 | 11 | 73 |
| 1943 | 46 | 66 | 101 | 259 | 272 | 360 | 250 | 134 | 346 | 331 | 67 | 744 |
| 1944† | 3,488 | — | 4,314 | 3,611 | 5,487 | 5,409 | 8,648 | 2,843 | 6,847 | 8,909 | 1,144 | 16,900 |
| 1945‡ | 362 | — | 914 | 1,086 | 516 | 737 | 1,525 | 616 | 1,003 | 1,535 | 340 | 2,878 |
| Total | 8,283 | 4,313 | 12,317 | 9,766 | 14,030 | 15,672 | 21,249 | 11,788 | 22,544 | 23,235 | 2,930 | 48,709 |
* Air-raid casualties first conveyed on l8/8/40. † Group II ceased to operate.
‡ Air-raid casualties last conveyed on 27/3/45
SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICE
Organisation
The school health work, under the supervision of the School Medical Officer,
comes within the public health department under a principal medical officer. It is
organised in two main divisions each under a senior medical officer, one dealing with
medical inspection, treatment and cleansing of pupils, and the other dealing with the
medical work in special and approved schools.
The Council's dental service is under a full-time consulting dental surgeon
with a full-time deputy, and deals, in addition to the school dental work, with the
dental service in hospitals and institutions.