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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PREVENTION OF ILLNESS : CARE AND AFTER-CARE
Foot clinics
the chiropody service which the Council is able to provide is generally inadequate to
meet demands upon it and is very unevenly distributed. There is no service in 13 of the
metropolitan boroughs and the City of London, while in Finsbury 18.47 chiropodist
sessions a week per 10,000 population are provided compared with an average of 1.38
for the County as a whole. Residents from adjacent boroughs, however, attend the
clinic in Finsbury and this, and similar arrangements which apply to a limited extent
in other areas, help to spread the available service more evenly.
The inadequacy and uneven distribution of the service, due to the diversity of the
arrangements taken over from the Metropolitan Borough Councils in 1948, must
continue until the Minister of Health can see his way to approve the Council's proposals
for expansion of the service.
The following are particulars of new cases and attendances :
| Year | New cases | Attendances | Staff at the end of the year (in terms of whole units) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | 9,446 | 129,682 | 35 |
| 1950 | 10,165 | 153,687 | 44 |
| 1951 | 10,348 | 162,163 | 43.5 |
| 1952 | 10,828 | 169,598 | 43.2 |
| 1953 | 11,374 | 180,588 | 43.5 |
| 1954 | 10,143 | 185,614 | 44.8 |
The majority of treatments provided at the clinics were for superficial excrescences
(corns, callosities, etc.), and malformed nails. Advice was given on shoe fitting, foot
hygiene and exercises.
Venereal disease
A summary of the work done in 1954 at the London V.D. out-patient clinics will be
found in Table 13, page 227. Approximately 77 per cent. of the patients were resident in
the County of London. The figures showed a continued decline in the number of
patients suffering from syphilis and the increase in the number suffering from gonorrhoea
noted in recent years appears to have been arrested. A large number of persons
who were not suffering from venereal disease continued to attend the clinics.
There was no appreciable change in the defaulter rate. The table below gives the
number of patients completing treatment and of defaulters as shown by analysis of the returns from the clinics for 1954.
| Syphilis | Gonorrhoea | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | Male | Female | |
| Number of patients discharged after completion of treatment and final test of cure | 788 | 624 | 2,951 | 650 |
| Number of patients who ceased to attend after completion of treatment but before final tests of cure | 424 | 257 | 2,195 | 695 |
| Number of patients who ceased to attend before completion of treatment | 107 | 119 | 147 | 70 |
| Number of patients who died from the disease while still undergoing treatment | 9 | 1 | - | - |