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
Beckenham 1943
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Beckenham]
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In practice it is found that the public regard the act of reporting
the presence of rats as the extent of their liability, but the Orders
do not remove this responsibility from occupiers. Each complainant
was notified that if the Council took action to rid any
premises of rats, the cost would be charged to the occupiers.
The work is greatly handicapped by the difficulty of finding
residents at home and by the end of the year 100 premises had been
dealt with and the work is being completed in 1944.
SEWER RATS.
The next step in the campaign was the inauguration of a
London drive to clear sewer rats and under a further direction the
Council had to bait and poison all the manholes to the sewers in the
Metropolitan Outfall area. This includes the Lawrie Park Ward and
the Parish Lane area.
The work was done in co-operation with the Borough Engineers
Department and entailed the employment of three gangs of three
men each for ten days.
This campaign entailed the treatment of 172 manholes, each
being pre-baited for four days and poisoned bait being laid on the
fifth dav.
Two treatments were given and the following Table shows the results calculated: the first Treatment gave a "Kill" of 1,433 Rats, the second Treatment a "Kill" of 200 Rats. It therefore appears that the first treatment was successful in greatly reducing the rat population:—
| Manholes Pre-Baited | Average takes over 4 days | Manholes | Poison Bait Takes | Calculated "Kill" | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Complete | Good | Small | No Take | Not Poisoned | Poisoned | Complete | Good | Small | No Take | |||
| First Treatment 1943 Dec. 6th-11th | 172 | 43 | 39 | 29 | 61 | 20 | 152 | 15 | 43 | 41 | 53 | 1,433 |
| Second Treatment 1944 Jan. 17th-22nd | 170 | — | 8 | 38 | 124 | 124 | 46 | — | 3 | 21 | 22 | 200 |
WAR-TIME NURSERIES.
My last Report gave an account of the opening of two War-time
Nurseries. This year has shown a persistent and increasing demand
for accommodation. At 25. Beckenham Road, there is a constant
waiting list, which, while unsatisfactory for mothers anxious to
obtain work, is gratifying inasmuch as the children are happy and
contented and give no cause for their removal.
Our Springfield Nursery has been enlarged to satisfy in some
way the growing need there. Steps have been taken to open
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