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4
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Borough of Erith.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The year, 1949, was the first full year following the passing
of the National Health Service Act 1946, in which the Council,
through its Health Department, found itself shorn of its Maternity
and Child Welfare functions and its Maternity Home and
restricted in its statutory duties to the field of environmental
health.
This contraction in its range of duties, which was shared
by many so called 44 minor " authorities up and down the
Country, was reflected, locally, in the appointment of a Joint
Medical Officer of Health to serve the Boroughs of Erith and
Bexley and the Urban District of Crayford. There can be no
doubt that, initially, the loss of the Part III services brought
with it a sense of frustration but this did not long survive.
Indeed, it was not long before it became evident that although
much had been lost, much (and the greater part) remained.
I set out below some of the chief problems with which the
Health Department had to contend.
In common with the rest of the country, housing is still
the main obstacle to full health in the Borough. The shortage
of separate accommodation for newly married couples who
have to live with relatives is a major source of unhappiness and
of mental ill-health. Many of these cases are brought to our
notice by a call of the person affected to the Health Department,
while many more are discovered during visits by the
Sanitary Inspectors who, during the year, carried out 3,172
inspections either under the Public Health or Housing Acts.
It may be that, in most cases of housing difficulty, there is
little that can be done in view of the limited accommodation
available but each case has to be examined critically and
sympathetically to ascertain whether a special reference to the
Housing Committee would be justified.
The question of tuberculosis in relation to housing is
as grave as ever. The discharge of chronic cases to their
homes and the failure to provide proper isolation for" open "
cases awaiting admission to hospital have set up a vicious
circle which can only be broken by an increase in the available
number of hospital beds, the provision of domiciliary treatment
where necessary, and a vigorous policy of B.C.G.
inoculation of the young and their removal, if necessary, for
a period from the source of infection while their immunity is
developing. In the meantime, the relief of overcrowding in