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3
ANNUAL REPORT
of the
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH, 1950
To the Chairman and Members of the Urban District Council
of Enfield.
I have pleasure in presenting my Annual Report for 1950.
Last year I commented on the reduced sphere of activity covered
by my Report consequent upon the operation of the National
Health Service Act, 1946.
Experience has shown, however, that there is still a great
volume of work in truly preventive medicine and sanitation retained
by Local Sanitary Authorities and that the disruption of
the Local Authority Health Services has served to focus attention
more clearly on the supreme importance of Environmental Health
Services.
Owing to the emphasis placed on curative medicine under the
National Health Service Act, I have heard the Public Health
Service referred to as the "Cinderella" of the Medical Services,
but I recall that this character overcame adversity and, in spite
of the difficulties placed in her path, reached a position far beyond
her most optimistic dreams. I am convinced that a similar future
is possible for the Public Health Service when it is more widely
realised that the Preventive Health Services have as important a
part to play as the other services, and will continue to advance
if given the opportunity.
The work of the Health Department rarely receives the limelight,
except if something goes wrong. Its successes are taken
for granted and its achievements are difficult to assess except
when studied in retrospect over a considerable period of time and
when viewed from the point of view of the community as a whole.
We can have unlimited opportunities to improve the health
of the community and to relieve the burden on the curative side
of the Health Services. It is sufficient to mention only one of the
more recent successes, namely the drastic reduction achieved in
the number of cases of Diphtheria. Consider the effects of this,
not only in the saving of life, but in the prevention of anxiety and
misery, and, on the material plane, the saving in expenditure in
Hospital beds and treatment.