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MEDICAL OFFICER S ANNUAL REPORT.
Public Health Department,
Town Hall,
Hayes, Middlesex.
June, 1955.
To the Chairman and Members of the Council.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The health of the district during 1954 has remained good ;
there have been no epidemics of any size and in fact the incidence of
most infectious diseases apart from dysentery has shown a marked
decrease from that of last year. It is a matter of opinion whether
there is any connection between this decrease and the prevailing
weather conditions. There were only a few weeks of severe cold
early in the year, and the summer was dull and cool, but the later
months were extremely mild.
The marked rise in notifications of dysentery was not due to
any particular outbreak, but arose from an accumulation of isolated
cases, none of which was serious.
The vital statistics are satisfactory, both the birth rate of
13.54 and the death rate of 10.71 comparing favourably with the
figures for England and Wales. There were no maternal deaths
this year.
Much new legislation concerning public health has been brought
forward in Parliament during the year, and foreshadows an increase
in the amount and scope of the work of this department. From
this point of view, the most important was the Housing Repairs
and Rents Act, 1954i This is designed to improve the general
standard of housing accommodation throughout the country.
To this end, local authorities are encouraged to proceed with slum
clearance programmes and to complete these within the next five
years, where at all practicable. Facilities are offered for "Patching"
of some dwellings in order to defer demolition and to render them
habitable for a reasonable length of time ; this is of course only an
interim measure. New standards of fitness for human habitation
have been laid down, and these are designed to cover and supersede
previous regulations and byelaws.
In order to encourage property owners to improve the standards
of housing, amendments have been made to the conditions attached
to the payment of grants for improvement and conversion. The
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