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East Barnet Urban District Council
NINETIETH
ANNUAL REPORT
of the
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
FOR THE YEAR 1963
To the Chairman and Members of the
East Barnet Urban District Council
I have the honour to present my report for the year 1963.
Vital Statistics for the year show little worthy of comment except
that this was a Measles year which has increased the total notifications
very considerably. Also there was an outbreak of Sonne Dysentery,
almost entirely limited to one school. As usual, this proved a difficult
outbreak to limit despite the co-operation of teachers and parents.
No apology is needed for once again taking the question of rehousing
of priority cases as the main subject for comment. A year or two
ago it began to look as if most of the urgent cases had been satisfactorily
dealt with, and that it might be possible to anticipate new
housing being available for those cases that inevitably crop up. Unfortunately
this has not proved to be the case, and I have to record
with regret that it has not been found possible to rehouse as yet any
of the nine special cases approved for priority on medical grounds
during 1963, and that these names have to be added to the four
families still waiting from the previous year. A total of thirteen does
not perhaps seem to be all that large, but to be seen in proper perspective
it has to be appreciated that only a fraction of those investigated
by the Public Health Department are finally selected for the priority
list, and that the list covers only those where housing conditions are
known to be such as must have a steadily deteriorating effect on the
health and welfare of the families concerned. It would indeed seem
to be that in this area we have some long way to go before the
housing problem is solved, and with an ageing population such centres
as Vale Court must become increasingly vital.
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