Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Leyton]
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The Senior Sanitary Inspector is the Council's representative on No. 8
Workable Area Committee (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries) for
Rodent Control and on the Standing Conference of Co-operative Bodies
(Investigation of Atmospheric Pollution) set up by the Department of
Scientific and Industrial Research.
The Deputy Senior Sanitary Inspector acts as a District Inspector, and
deputises for the Senior Sanitary Inspector in the latter's absence.
PRESENT STAFF
(a) In Relation to Population.
Many factors other than population have to be considered in assessing
the number of sanitary inspectors required to perform satisfactorily the
work of a Local Sanitary Authority. A district such as Leyton, containing
much obsolescent property, requires more intensive attention than one of the
same size of more modern development.
In Leyton there is one Sanitary Inspector for every 11,500 inhabitants,
whereas the officially recorded average for England and Wales is one
Sanitary Inspector per 9,000 inhabitants.
(b) Adequacy.
Although the existing staff of nine Sanitary Inspectors may be considered
to be adequate to deal with routine day-to-day requirements, there is too
little margin to enable less urgent aspects of environmental hygiene to
receive adequate attention. For instance, the Preliminary Housing Survey
undertaken last year in connection with the Council's Re-development
Scheme was carried out at the expense of less urgent but nevertheless
important work.
ADDITIONAL COMMITMENTS
(i) Re-development Areas.
The Council's recent decision to proceed with clearance of insanitary
houses and re-development of certain areas in the Borough under the Housing
Acts and Town Planning Acts will involve the Health Department in a very
substantial amount of additional technical and clerical work. Before further
consideration can be given to the Council's proposals, detailed surveys of
each house in the specified areas will have to be undertaken by the sanitary
inspectors in order to obtain the information necessary to prepare the comprehensive
schedules of evidence necessary to support the Council's case at
public enquiries ; the representative of the Ministry of Housing and Local
Government placed great emphasis on this point when the Council's
proposals were discussed at that Ministry recently.
The survey of each area will require the full-time services of a Sanitary
Inspector for a period of at least six months, and, as this is the beginning of a
long-term programme of re-development in the Borough, it is reasonable
to assume that at least two inspectors will be engaged on this work for an
indefinite period of years.