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7
Public Health Department,
Town Hall,
Ealing, W.5.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Borough of Ealing.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit to you the Annual Report on
the health of the Borough for the year 1934, this being presented
in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Health
and the Board of Education. The Report contains various statistical
tables and provides detailed information regarding the public
health service.
The vital statistics of the Borough are particularly noteworthy.
The birth-rate has increased to 15.0 per thousand of
population and for the first time on record exceeds that for England
and Wales. The death-rate of 9.5 per thousand of population
is the lowest since pre-war years, while the infant death-rate of
38 per thousand births is the lowest ever recorded for the Borough.
The population of Ealing at the middle of 1934 is estimated by
the Registrar General as 133,446, which places the Borough thirtyseventh
in the list of Great Towns in England and Wales.
The isolation and treatment of cases of infectious disease
gave rise to some difficulty. The numbers of cases of scarlet
fever and diphtheria, 483 and 195 respectively, were the highest
since the severe epidemic experienced in 1921 and on several
occasions during the year the Isolation Hospital was unable to
meet the demands for admission. Accommodation in hospitals
in neighbouring areas was fortunately available for a number of
cases for whom admission to hospital was imperative and homenursing
of scarlet fever patients had to be adopted whenever it
was practicable. The Annual Report submitted to the Chiswick
and Ealing Hospitals Committee regarding the administration of
the Isolation and Maternity Hospitals is included as an Appendix
to this report.