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It appears that cases were more frequently reported in women than in men.
A similar female excess is observed in dysentery.
According to figures supplied by the Ministry of Health there were 50 outbreaks
of food poisoning in London in 1950, covering a total of 928 subsequently ascertained
cases, of which, however, only 288 had been notified before enquiries were made and
are therefore included in the total notifications of 863.
GENERAL PUBLIC HEALTH
Housing
During the year 15,680 houses and flats were erected or brought into commission
after repair by the Council and/or the metropolitan borough councils. Of these
8,587 were in London (3,813 by the Council and 4,774 by the borough councils) and
the remainder (7,093) were erected by the Council outside the London area.
The total number of houses or flats owned by the Council at 31st December, 1950,
was 136,592 (an increase in the year of 10,891) of which 68,152 are situated in
London and 68,440 outside the county.
At 31st December, 1950, the Council's list of applicants waiting for accommodation
contained 198,955 names, 49,202 new applications having been made during
the year. In this period 44,284 requests for preference in rehousing on health
grounds were considered and suitable recommendations made to the Director of
Housing and Valuer. This figure includes a number of applications, estimated at 10
per cent., which had been considered in previous years but which were reviewed in
the light of changed medical or domestic conditions. The number of new applications
was, therefore, about 40,000, which is approximately 10,000 more than were considered
in 1949. The increasing number of applications on health grounds has been very
significant in recent years, and no doubt is largely attributable to the natural anxiety
of applicants to put forward any claims which might possibly lead to prospects of
early rehousing. Inevitably, many have to be disappointed, but all applications are
carefully considered and many enquiries are made to enable fair decisions to be
reached. Once again, the great assistance given by medical officers of health of
metropolitan boroughs and out-county authorities, of hospitals and of family doctors
in providing reports is gratefully acknowledged.
At the request of the Local Medical Committee for London, a standard form of
medical certificate was introduced and made available to applicants whose doctors
recommended special consideration of their patients' need of rehousing.
In September consideration of the applications for preference, formerly done
centrally, was delegated to the nine divisional medical officers. Since then, of the
applications considered on general health grounds, about 9 per cent, were classified
as " most urgent", and 27 per cent, as less urgent but justifying preference on health
grounds. After careful consideration, it was decided that the degree of medical
urgency disclosed by the doctors' certificates did not warrant additional preference
for the remaining 64 per cent.
Included in the 44,284 applications received during the year were 2,359 for which
special preference was recommended because rehousing was urgently necessary to
reduce the danger of infection arising from inadequate accommodation for persons
suffering from active pulmonary tuberculosis.
In 1949, the Council decided that six unfit areas, on which clearance procedure
had been stopped by the war, should be resurveyed with a view to commencing
clearance action under Part III of the Housing Act, 1936.
The second of these six priority areas, comprising 441 houses and extending over
1½ acres, was "represented" to the Housing Committee in 1950, and another of
the areas was resurveyed with a view to representation.
Clearance
areas