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 1954
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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TABLE (ii)
| Principal cause of defective vision | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cataract | Glaucoma | Retrolental fibroplasia | Other conditions | ||
| No. of persons re-examined | 123 | 26 | - | 114 | 263 |
| No. found to have had treatment | 80 | 21 | - | 75 | 176 |
| Percentage treated | 65.0 | 80.8 | 65.8 | 66.9 | |
These figures are a measure of the extent to which treatment was obtained. Since
most of the blind and partially-sighted are elderly or old people, many of whom are
reluctant to accept treatment, an effective treatment rate of 67 per cent. cannot be
regarded as unsatisfactory.
As a consequence of successful treatment, 26 persons previously registered as blind
were found, on re-examination, to be partially-sighted, and 16 persons previously
certified as blind or partially-sighted were found to be improved to such an extent as
no longer to be registrable.
Figures for ophthalmia neonatorum are given on page 21.
At the end of the year there were 42 nursing homes on the register, six fewer than in 1953. In the 42 homes there were 836 beds distributed as follows :
| Number of beds in home | Number of homes | Patients accomodated | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maternity† | Others* | Total | ||
| 25 or over | 9 | 238 | 189 | 427 |
| 20 to 24 | 6 | 27 | 104 | 131 |
| 15 to 19 | 4 | 20 | 49 | 69 |
| 10 to 14 | 12 | 43 | 97 | 140 |
| 5 to 9 | 8 | 31 | 31 | 62 |
| Under 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Total | 42 | 361 | 475 | 836 |
† Each bed is registered for a maternity, medical or surgical case.
* Numbers include beds for medical and surgical patients which cannot be used if a maternity patient is accommodated
in the same room.
Close over-all supervision of the homes was maintained and visits of inspection made
at regular intervals by medical officers (72 inspections) and public health inspectors
(192 inspections). 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.
39 exemptions from the operation of Part XI of the Public Health (London) Act,
1936, were granted.
In July, 1954, all executive work connected with the registration of nursing homes,
including co-ordination of action by other departments concerned, was transferred
from the Clerk of the Council to the Medical Officer of Health.
42