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116
SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES.
To the Medical Officer of Health.
I beg to submit a report for the year ending the 31st December,
1948, of the work of the Sanitary Inspectors and other officers
under my supervision. It has again been a year given over
largely to dealing with complaints of conditions affecting the
housing environment of residents in the Borough.
During the year some 12,000 houses have been rendered
reasonably fit as a result of informal and formal action by this
department, ll was necesssary in 442 cases for- the Local Authorilv
to do the works asked for on formal notices, in default of owners.
It has not been possible to give as much, attention to the
routine inspection of factories, workplaces and food shops as
I would like, but these have not been neglected, as the tables
in the report will show.
Meat Inspection occupies the time of two Inspectors between
the Abattoir, where 23,833 animals were inspected after slaughter,
and the Meat Depot which serves a population of some 350,000.
In those Food preparation premises and shops which have
been inspected, a steady improvement has become apparent in
their condition. Repairs at the instigation of the department
have been carried out to many such premises.
1,320 samples of food and drink for both chemical and
bacteriological examination have been taken during the year.
Rats and Mice Destruction has gone on throughout the year,
both in the sewers of the Borough and on the surface. The
results of the sewer treatments have been particularly successful,
the manholes now requiring poison baiting having been reduced
very considerably and this reduction should be progressive.
GEO. GRIEVE,
Chief Sanitary Inspector.
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