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in the Borough which, during the next year or two, will have to be
condemned as being unfit for habitation : when that happens the
occupants of those houses will have to be provided with other
accommodation. By the middle of next year I hope to have precise
information on this point, but I shall be surprised if there are found
to be less than a hundred of such houses.
The Department made special enquiries and submitted reports
to the Housing Committee on 24 cases during the year. Statutory
overcrowding was recorded as existing in five of these cases.
GENERAL PROVISION OF HEALTH SERVICES
IN THE AREA
A. HOSPITALS PROVIDED BY PUBLIC AUTHORITIES.
1. Fever Hospitals. The West Kent Joint Hospital Board provides
Fever Hospital accommodation for Beckenham and a
number of other districts. The Board has two Hospitals, one
for Smallpox cases, and the other for specified infectious
diseases.
2. Maternity Hospital. The Beckenham Borough Council and
the Penge Urban District Council maintain a Joint Hospital
at Stone Park Avenue, Beckenham. This building was
specially built as a Maternity Hospital with 34 beds, and was
opened in December, 1939. Details of the work in 1945 appear
later in the Report.
3. General Hospital. The County Council provide General
Hospitals at Farnborough and at Orpington for acute cases
and the chronic sick. The Hospital at Farnborough includes
a Maternity Block with 50 beds.
These Hospitals serve that part of the County in which
Beckenham is situated.
Old and infirm cases are dealt with as far as possible by
the County Public Assistance Committee.
4. Tuberculosis. The Kent County Council are responsible for
the provision of Sanatoria and Hospitals for Tubercular
patients, and for the provision of Chest Clinics for diagnosis
and treatment. The Chest Clinic for Beckenham and Penge
is at 1, Westbury Road, Penge, and for Wickham at 2, Park
Roacf, Bromley.
5. Day Nurseries. To meet war-time developments the Council
opened two Nurseries, with places for 85 children in all.
Details appear later in the Report.
B. LOCAL CLINIC SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE LOCAL
AUTHORITIES.
The table on page 21 shows the Centres and Clinics in
operation at the end of December, 1945.
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