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Health Department,
Tottenham Town Hall,
The Green,
High Road,
Tottenham, N. 15.
To: The Worshipful the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the London Borough of Haringey.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present the report to the people of the Borough of Haringey for the year ended
31st December 1966.
The second year in the Health Department has seen the opening of a new clinic in Burgoyne Road,
and progress has been made in the planning for the future, for a health centre at Stuart Crescent, Wood
Green, an adult training centre at Bounds Green Road and a residential hostel for mentally sub-normal
men at Linden Road. The Burgoyne Road Clinic houses the Maternity and Child Welfare Clinics together
with the Dental Clinics and School Health Services in new premises on the extended site of a church
hall formerly used as a clinic, and it will serve a populous area where there are many homes with young
families.
The statistics obtained in Haringey confirm several of the national trends and show that there is an
increase in the number of women under the age of 65 who now die from lung cancer. There is an increase
in the number of men who die from coronary thrombosis, and the increase in this disease has been
attributed to our increasingly sedentary way of Iife. Too many people, especially men in the middle years
of life, are taking less exercise than the equivalent of a one mile walk per day. The most disappointing
figure is the recorded total of seven maternal deaths, and at least two of these were directly attributed
to attempted abortion.
The return made to the Department of Education and Science in January 1966 shows that the Borough
has a higher proportion of immigrants in proportion to its population than any other in the country. There
were no fewer than 7,726 children of immigrant origin out of a school roll of 33,753. The general
impression in the Health Department is that about half the new babies are born to immigrants and about
half of these are of African descent.
There has been an overall diminution in the total population although there is an increase in the
number of dwellings. During the year much work has been done to improve the standard of housing
environment with several clearance areas, special attention to the maintenance of reasonable standards
in those large houses which have been left in multiple occupation, and the establishment of improvement
areas in Uplands Road and Arnold Road.
The Department has had a noticeable increase in the demand for the training of a wide variety of
professional staff, a demand which must be met in the interest of progress generally and in keeping with
our responsibility as a London borough with ready access to a variety of facilities for student training.
This has helped to reveal shortages of certain categories of staff:, many of the clinics are now being
staffed by part-time medical officers, and few applications are received for vacancies in such posts as
public health inspectors, health visitors, nurses, midwives and medical auxiliaries. The shortage of
chiropodists was brought to light when the Council took over the voluntary organisations' chiropody
services during the year. There is an ever-increasing demand for the services of our Home Helps.
In conclusion, I wish to record my thanks to the Chairman and Members of the Health and Welfare
Committee for their encouragement and support, to the family doctors, to the hospital services and their
staffs, and to the various voluntary organisations and the Chief Officers of the Borough for their help
and collaboration in the task of promoting the health of the residents of Haringey. My thanks are due
also to the staff of the Health Department for their loyal and efficient service during a busy year.
I have the honour to be
Your obedient Servant,
J.L. PATTON,
Medical Officer of Health.