View report page

16
From time to time other members joined the forces, viz.:—Inspectors Clay,
Cartledge (awarded Distinguished Service Medal), Draper (twice mentioned in
despatches), Hill, Smith and Wilson; and Mr. James and Mr. Matthews of the clerical
staff. Arrangements had to be made for carrying on the work of these officers
and in connection with this the members of the staff remaining most loyally cooperated
and the quality of the work done was in no sense inferior to that of previous
years. In variety, if not also in quantity, the work increased considerably as a direct
result of the war.
Soon after hostilities were declared the Medical Officer of Health, in common
with others in the metropolis, was asked to assist the Deputy Director of Medical
Services for the London District, and to act as "Sanitary Supervisor" of camps,
billets, etc., in the Borough.
The Council raised no objection to this, and a great deal of work was done in the
way of inspecting encampments and premises used by troops, advising commanding
officers, co-operating with Army medical officers, examining food supplied to the
troops, reporting sanitary defects and making periodical reports to the Deputy
Director of Medical Services, etc.
After arrangements to help in these ways had been made, the Local Government
Board issued a letter to local authorities pointing out the necessity of close
co-operation between the civil and military authorities in relation to infectious
diseases, and from time to time the Board also communicated with the Medical
Officer of Health on the question of food to the troops, as a great deal of material
was supplied to the War Office by a large contractor in the Borough.
Later, when the necessity for the control of food arose, the department was
again called in. Each of the inspectors, men and women, was appointed an
inspector under the Local Food Control Committee with the Medical Officer of
Health as Chief and two additional men were appointed and put under his direction.
The work done was difficult and onerous, but was loyally and well carried out by
the inspectors.
By the beginning of 1919 food control work had greatly diminished in amount,
and those inspectors who had been engaged in it were able to return more fully to
their normal duties. The inspectors who had been on service had all been
demobilized and the staff, being practically at full strength, every effort was made to
carry on the work in the same way as before the war. On account of changed
conditions, the result of housing difficulties, shortage and cost of labour and materials,
this has not been easy. Very much more work has to be done without obtaining any
result whatever, or to obtain such a result as would have been considered most
unsatisfactory in pre-war days.
From the following summary some idea of the amount of work done in relation to
nuisances is given. For details of other works carried out by the inspectors, reference
must be made to the sections dealing with housing, food, infectious diseases, etc.
In regard to nuisances, the first point to note is that the total number of complaints
received was 1,588, as against 617 in 1918, and 1,747 in 1914.
The majority of these complaints were made by the inspectors themselves, the
number from outside being 356. These came from voluntary workers of the St.
Marylebone Health Society, members of the Children's Care Committee, neighbours
and others. In respect of nuisances, 380 statutory notices were issued, as against
59 in 1918 and 216 in 1914.
Of these notices, 248 related to ordinary nuisances (dirt, dampness, &c.) 66 to
verminous rooms, 10 to drains, and 8 to insufficient w.c. accommodation. The
remaining 12 were served on owners to provide a proper and sufficient supply of
water to the upper storeys of tenement houses, under the London County Council
(General Powers) Act of 1907. The number of such notices in 1918 was 6, and in
1914, 31.