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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81
(see p. 56), but, so far as the Mental Health Services are concerned, 417 nurses (119
male and 298 female) joined between 1st February and 31st May, 1946, compared
with 261 (40 male and 221 female) during the preceding four months.
The Council agreed to continue for a further period of one year the work carried
out on behalf of the Minister of Labour and National Service of placing in employment
and providing industrial after-care for children leaving the Council's special schools
for the educationally subnormal (see footnote to table 5). The Ministry made a
grant of £1,500 to cover the cost of this work.
Statistics
The following table gives the numbers of London's mental cases of all types for
whom the Mental Hospitals Committee and, up to 1930, the Metropolitan Asylums
Board were responsible to provide institutional accommodation since the year 1890*
and the increase or decrease in total numbers since then:—
After-care of
special
school
leavers
Table 1
| Year 1st Jan. | Mentally disordered patients under reception orders | Voluntary and temporary patients | Chronic harmless patients in ex-M.A.b. institutions under sec. 24or 25 of Lunacy Act, 1890 | Uncertified patients | Mentally defective patients dealt with under the Mental Deficiency Acts | Total | Increase | Decrease | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cases of senile dementia over 70 years of age | Feebleminded persons | ||||||||
| 1890 | 10,104 | _ | 5,566 | _ | _ | _ | 15,670 | _ | _ |
| 1895 | 12,118 | — | 5,908 | — | — | — | 18,026 | 2,356 | _ |
| 1900 | 15,185 | — | 5,770 | — | — | — | 20,955 | 2,929 | _ |
| 1905 | 18,168 | — | 6,450 | — | — | — | 24,618 | 3,668 | _ |
| 1910 | 19,914 | — | 6,676 | — | — | — | 26,590 | 1,972 | _ |
| 1915 | 21,539 | — | 7,258 | — | 641 | 35 | 29,473 | 2,883 | _ |
| 1920 | 17,296 | — | 5,291 | — | 720 | 687 | 23,994 | — | 5,479 |
| 1925 | 19,060 | 136 | 4,976 | — | 889 | 1,881 | 26,942 | 2,948 | _ |
| 1930 | 21,034 | 161 | 4,370 | 942 | 944 | 3,189 | 30,640 | 3,698 | _ |
| 1935 | 21,580 | 607 | 3,931 | 1,073 | 83 | 6,347 | 33,621 | 2,981 | _ |
| 1936 | 21,445 | 856 | 3,942 | 1,123 | 54 | 6,600 | 34,020 | 399 | _ |
| 1937 | 21,366 | 1,076 | 3,959 | 1,042 | 14 | 6,845 | 34,302 | 282 | _ |
| 1938 | 21,153 | 1,255 | 3,955 | 942 | 9 | 7,017 | 34,331 | 29 | _ |
| 1939 | 20,824 | 1,511 | 3,940 | 896 | 9 | 7,117 | 34,297 | _ | 34 |
| 1940 | 20,555 | 1,454 | 3,867 | 991 | 9 | 7,381 | 34,257 | — | 40 |
| 1941 | 20,364 | 1,516 | 3,653 | 997 | 9 | 7,369 | 33,908 | — | 349 |
| 1942 | 19,340 | 1,514 | 3,399 | 944 | 9 | 7,340 | 32,546 | — | 1,362 |
| 1943 | 18,578 | 1,480 | 3,155 | 1,018 | 9 | 7,380 | 31,620 | — | 926 |
| 1944 | 18,071 | 1,593 | 2,965 | 1,005 | — | 7,403 | 31,037 | — | 583 |
| 1945 | 17,687 | 1,576 | 2,874 | 1,087 | — | 7,404 | 30,628 | — | 409 |
| 1946 | 17,379 | 1,629 | 2,598 | 1,126 | — | 7,405 | 30,137 | _ | 491 |
| 1947 | 17,221 | 1,816 | 2,447 | 1,239 | — | 7,430 | 30,153 | 16 | — |
* The figures for each year up to 1935 will be found in the Annual Report of the Council for 1937
(Vol. VL., p. 4.)