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3
Public Health Department,
Town Hall,
Croydon.
November, 1918.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the County Borough
of Croydon.
Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen,
I beg to submit the Annual Report of the work carried out in the
Public Health Department during the year 1918. There are many
returns of interest which might profitably be analysed and commented
upon, but the need of restricting the size of the report and also the great
difficulty in getting time for quiet consideration of these matters has made
it impossible to do so in the present circumstances. when more normal
conditions return, with the return of the Public Health staff to civil
occupations, I intend to review the work of the department during the
war as a whole, and in that way give an indication of the maintenance
of the public health services during what has been a difficult period.
A very considerable difficulty has been experienced in adjusting the
work of the staff to the constantly varying requirements of the town, but
I have to acknowledge the very loyal co-operation of those who are
serving the Corporation as temporary officers and employees. The
results, in my opinion, indicate on the whole a well sustained public
health control. In particular I would mention the remarkably light
incidence of civil infections which has characterised the major part of the
war period, with the exception of the first year and a half of the war.
The Maternity and Infant work is growing continuously, and
makes a very large demand upon the activities of the staff.
The scheme for the treatment of Veneral Disease has completed its
first year of active work, and a table is embodied in the report showing
the returns of the various bodies which have taken part in the joint
scheme for London and the surrounding Counties and County Boroughs.
In the section of the department dealing directly with the treatmen
of tuberculosis, a considerable addition to the work has arisen out of the
examination of recruits for the Army and in connection with the treatment
of soldiers and sailors discharged from the services suffering fro
tuberculosis.