View report page

were at a high level before and continued so during the two foggy weeks after which
they declined ; in January, 1956, there was a steep rise in the week of the fog (steeper
than is indicated by the figures of the preceding week if due allowance is made for delay
in claims over the Christmas period) after which there was a decline until the figures
rose again in the cold weither of February; the December, 1956 fog was around
Christmas and the figures are in consequence difficult to interpret. The evidence suggests
a slight increase of morbidity in the fog of November, 1954, and a considerable increase
in the fog of January, 1956; the figures for January, 1955, substantiate the claim made
earlier that the increase in mortality on that occasion was due as much as, or more to,
the prevailing cold weather than the fog.
(b) Applications for Hospital Beds through the Emergency Bed Service for Greater London.
These are held to be a good indication of the extent of the prevalence of acute
sickness, on the assumption that general medical practitioners are uniformly making
use of the service; though there is a possibility of a damping down of demand when
it is known that supply, i.e., hospital beds, is very short.
The figures are:

Weeks in which fog occurred are again underlined. It is difficult to interpret these
figures without regard to the background levels. November, 1954 and January, 1955,
were part of a general rising trend which continued throughout the winter reaching a
peak of 1,750 in late January. In January, 1956, the figures reached a peak level of 1,820
on the 10th, three days after the last day of fog and the highest since the winter of
1952-53; they did not reach this level again even in the following cold February.
The December, 1956—January, 1957, rise was part of a general trend which reached
a peak on 7th January, after which it fell until mid-January rising again to a peak in
March. These figures do not suggest any alarming increase in acute sickness except for
the fog of January, 1956, when the demand on the hospitals for beds was greater than
in the very cold weather of the following February.
(c) New cases taken on the hooks of District Nursing Associations—London A.C.
These figures relate to a service catering mainly for the elderly, but the fact that
they are unfortunately in respect of months means that they have but a limited value.

The months of fog are again underlined and the figures do not demonstrate any
particular association therewith, except in January, 1955, when it was also very cold.
208