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provide a rate which can be compared with England & Wales
and with other districts, a factor is obtained, which, when
multiplied into the crude Death-Rate, makes allowances for
differences of sex and age distribution. This correcting
factor for Friern Barnet is 0.94.
There is also another population variable which
affects this District. This is Friern Hospital. Previous
to 1st. January, 1953, almost all the deaths which took place
in the hospital were what are known as "outward transfers",
i.e., they were assigned to the districts in which the
deceased were normally resident before admission. In
accordance with the memorandum issued with G.R.O. Circular
(M.O.H.) No. 4/1952, relating to Births, Deaths and Stillbirths,
a mental hospital is now to be regarded as the
usual place of residence of the inmates. Deaths have
therefore to be treated as "non-transferable". The
population of the District excluding Friern Hospital is
25,915. On applying the age and sex distribution factor
of 0.94, the Death-Rate for general comparative purposes
is 8.5 per 1000, the figure for.the District including
Friern Hospital is 14.9 per 1000.
Affections of the heart and circulatory system
were again the principal cauaesof death.
There were 8 deaths of infants under one year of
age, giving an Infantile Mortality Rate of 23.3 per 1,000
live births. This compares with a total of 13 deaths and
a rate of 37.5 in 1952, and is the second lowest for more
than twenty years. Too much significance should not be
given to this mortality figure as the numbers on which it
is founded in a district the size of Friern Barnet are
small, and slight fluctuations are more critically reflected
than in areas of larger populations. Of the 8
infant deaths 6 occurred during the first week of life.
The comparative rates for England & Wales and for London
were 26.8 and 24.8 respectively.
No deaths from causes connected with childbirth
occurred during the year. Indeed, the last recorded
maternal death was in 1947, since when there have been
2181 births.
An analysis of the various causes of death will
be found at the end of the Report.
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