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Public Health Department,
Town Hall,
St. Marylebone, W.l.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Metropolitan Borough of St. Marylebone.
Mr. Mayor, my Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Alongside all the advances and achievements of the personal health services, it will be evident
from a perusal of this report that, despite the substantial progress already made in the betterment
of the physical environment in the Borough, there is still room for further improvement and that
much work yet remains to be done where man lives and works and eats. Activity in the environmental
field was intensified throughout 1952 with special reference to disinfestation of verminous premises,
abatement of atmospheric pollution, rodent control, factory inspection and food hygiene.
Health conditions generally in the Borough continued to be satisfactory. The population, according
to the Registrar General's estimate, numbered 74,290, a reduction of 1,474 on the 1951 census figure
of 75,764. Both the birth-rate (12.49) and the death-rate (15.27) showed an increase over the figures
for 1951 (12.18 and 13.77 respectively). Though the infant mortality rate of 24.78 was higher than
the exceptionally low rate of 19.39 for 1951, it is of interest to note that in the Report of the Ministry
of Health for the year 1951 the Chief Medical Officer comments that the steady fall in the national
infant mortality rate is not reflected uniformly in the rates for individual local authorities, because
with relatively small numbers there are chance fluctuations from year to year. He considers, however,
that consistently low rates over three years can be regarded as satisfactory, and among the authorities
in very different types of area quoted as giving rates well below the national figure for the three years
1949, 1950 and 1951 is St. Marylebone with 22, 22 and 19 respectively as compared with the national
rates of 32, 30 and 30. The Chief Medical Officer states that local figures such as these demonstrate
that what would formerly have been claimed as phenomenally low rates are now becoming the rule
in quite a number of southern localities.
Notifications of infectious and other diseases decreased from 1,108 (1951) to 846, nearly two-thirds
of this number being accounted for by measles (445) and whooping cough (112). There were no deaths
from measles or whooping cough, and again no ease of diphtheria was reported.
The weather of 1952 produced features with few or no recorded parallels, and many gale and
rainfall records—some over a century old—were broken. It was the coldest year in London for nine
years. Sunshine and rainfall generally were above the average. In March the temperature rose 55
degrees in a month in London. On the 3rd it was 24 degrees ; on the 30th 79 degrees were registered.
Snow fell in March—abnormally late—and returned mucli earlier than usual with a severe snowstorm in
November. During December, London had one of its worst fogs for years, and in the central area
dense fog persisted for a continuous period of 114 hours. The summer, though warm, had few really
hot days. It was probably the coldest September since 1807. With only a few interruptions the cold
weather continued until the end of the year, making the period September—December the coldest
for at least 33 years.
To the Rt. Hon. Lord Mancroft, M.B.E., T.D., Chairman of the Public Health Committee until
May, to Councillor Herbert C. Garrard, who succeeded him in that position, and to the members of
the Committee and, indeed, of the Council generally, I offer my thanks for the consideration and
support always extended to me in connection with the public health work of the Borough. To the
staff of the Public Health Department my obligations are too numerous to mention individually,
but to all I gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness for their loyalty and continued zeal and
efficiency.
I am,
Mr. Mayor, my Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant,
H. A. BULMAN,
Medical Officer of Health.