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 1953
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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The standards used are those prescribed by the Ministry of Health (Circular 1353/33).
The cases 'previously blind, now not blind' are mainly those in which cataracts have
been removed surgically.
280 certificates were accepted from other authorities, hospitals and private
ophthalmologists as follows :
Blind persons 241 (109 male including one child under five years, 132 female
including three children under five years).
Not blind persons 39 (16 male, 23 female).
The causes of blindness in the 17 children under five years of age who were certified during the year were as follows :
| Retrolental fibroplasia | 3 |
| Congenital, hereditary and development defects | 9 |
| Congenital optic atrophy | 1 |
| Cataract | 1 |
| Intra ocular tumour | 1 |
| Buphthalmos | 1 |
| Opaque corneae | 1 |
The number of partially-sighted persons recommended for inclusion in the Observation
Register was 348 (117 male, 231 female).
Blind persons examined as to suitability for training and the results were :
| Male | Female | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suitable for training | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Unsuitable for training | - | - | - |
| Number of beds in home | Number of homes | Patients accommodated | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All types† | Medical and surgical only* | Total | ||
| 25 or over | 6 | 234 | 102 | 336 |
| 20 to 24 | 10 | 66 | 148 | 214 |
| 15 to 19 | 5 | _ | 83 | 83 |
| 10 to 14 | 10 | 50 | 65 | 115 |
| 5 to 9 | 12 | 43 | 51 | 94 |
| Under 5 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 16 |
| Total | 48 | 395 | 463 | 858 |
† Each bed is registered for a medical, surgical or maternity case.
* Numbers include beds for medical and surgical patients which cannot be used if a maternity patient is accommodated
in the same room.
Visits of inspection to the homes were made at regular intervals by medical officers
(92 inspections) and public health inspectors (130 inspections).
Close overall supervision of the homes was maintained. The lifting of certain
restrictions on the use of building materials, etc., resulted in some improvement in the
structural and decorative condition of some homes.
The shortage of properly-qualified nursing staff continued to present a variety of
problems and underlined the need for maintaining a close scrutiny of the staff provided
at all homes.
36 exemptions from the operation of Part XI of the Public Health (London) Act,
1936, were granted.