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What are the main problems left for us to tackle at the beginning
of our second century? Between one-third and one-half of all the
hospital beds in this country are devoted to the care of the mentally
ill and the mentally deficient, and it is probable that a similar proportion
of patients attending their own doctors for advice do so on account
of emotional and mental troubles rather than physical illness. The
prevention of this vast amount of illness must surely be one of our
major tasks, although in our present state of knowledge the road is
not yet clearly defined.
You will notice that this report contains a section devoted to the
work of the Sanitary Department. I had not intended to make any
special reference to this since I personally think it desirable for a Chief
Sanitary Inspector to write his own section in the same way that a
Principal School Dental Officer contributes to the report of a Principal
School Medical Officer. I find, however, that a certain decision taken
by you before my appointment has been widely discussed outside
Barking, and that a certain amount of misunderstanding exists on the
matter. The Sanitary Officers (Outside London) Regulations, 1935,
clearly lay down that the Sanitary Inspector "shall perform under
the general direction of the Medical Officer of Health all the duties
imposed on Sanitary Inspector by statute and by any orders, regulations
or directions from time to time made or given by the Minister,
and by any bye-laws or instructions of the Local Authority applicable
to his office."
In Bark: the post of Chief Sanitary Inspector is now combined
with that of Re-Housing Officer, in which latter capacity he has control
of certain administrative and clerical staff. It thus seems to me a
sensible arrangement to combine the clerical work of the Sanitary and
Re-Housing Departments in the same way that one set of staff undertakes
both t remaining work of the Borough Council's Health
Department and the County Council's Health Area Office.
Special attention should be drawn to the laundry service for
incontinent chronic sick persons which commenced towards the end
of the year. Although this deals with a numerically small group, it
is of inestimable benefit to families caring for these patients at home
under most difficult conditions when accommodation is not available
in hospital.
Although his report appears under my name, it records the
efforts of all the members of the department during the past year.
You are, I think fortunate in that you still have in Barking a team
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