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
City of London 1903
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London, City of ]
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14
In comparing the above with the Registrar-General's Returns, some
discrepancies will be observed, due to the fact that I have not been
furnished with the number of citizens who died in Institutions other than
those with which the City is connected.
The deaths from zymotic disease per 1,000 of the population was 0.56
compared with 1.77 in the Metropolis.
The deaths of children under one year of age to 1,000 births come out 115,
against 131 for the whole of London.
Deaths in City Institutions.
During 1903, 91 persons died in City Workhouses, Workhouse Infirmaries,
or Lunatic Asylums, or no less than 30.4 per cent. of the whole City mortality,
the corresponding figure for the Metropolis (1902) being 19.3 per cent.
This high percentage is caused in the City by the excessive proportion the
number of inmates in these places (exclusive of officers and their families)
bears to our population, the ratio being about 1:20, as compared with 1:94
in the Metropolis (Census 1901).
In other words, these figures represent that one in every 20 citizens is an
inmate of either a Workhouse, Workhouse Infirmary or a Lunatic Asylum,
in comparison with 1 in every 94 inhabitants of the Metropolis.
Percentage of Deaths occurring in Workhouses, Workhouse Infirmaries and Lunatic Asylums to total Deaths in the City of London and the Metropolis respectively, for 1903, compared with the average for the previous five years:-
| Year. | City of London. | Metropolis. |
|---|---|---|
| Per cent. | Per cent. | |
| 1898 | 28.8 | 16.8 |
| 1899 | 29.9 | 17.8 |
| 1900 | 27.9 | 18.3 |
| 1901 | 25.2 | 18.8 |
| 1902 | 31.2 | 19.3 |
| Average of previous five years | 28.6 | 18.2 |
| 1903 | 30.4 | Figures not yet published. |
It will be seen that in 1903 30.4 per cent., or 1 in every 3.3, deaths in the
City occurred in one of the above-named Institutions, compared with 19.3 per
cent., or about 1 in 5.2, in the Metropolis (1902) under analogous circumstances.