London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Willesden 1952
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Willesden]
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12
Uncleanliness and Scabies
There was again fewer children with lice and nits or scabies. The Middlesex County Council therefore
decided to offer a lower payment for treating school children. The Borough Council then found it
uneconomic to continue running the Scabies and Lice Treatment Centre at the Neasden Hospital and accordingly
closed it on the 1st September, 1952.
Cases Treated at the Scabies and Lice Treatment Centre from 1.1.52 to 30.8.52
The numbers in the brackets relate to the attendance of contacts of scabies who showed no signs of infection on inspection but nevertheless received treatment. They are not included in the total.
| New cases treated | Attendances | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scabies | Lice and nits | Total | Scabies | Lice and nits | Total | ||
| Children under 5 years | 3 | 16 | 19 | 11 (-) | 16 | 27 | |
| Children 5-15 years | 5 | 78 | 83 | 31 (-) | 78 | 109 | |
| Adults : | Men | 4 | 6 | 10 | 37 (2) | 28 | 65 |
| Women | 8 | 20 | 28 | ||||
| Total | 20 | 120 | 140 | 79 (2) | 122 | 201 | |
The Borough Council then made arrangements with the Kensington Borough Council for the treatment
of adults and children under the age of 5 years at their cleansing centre; the Middlesex County Council
organised treatment for school children at the Stonebridge Health Centre.
Cases Treated at the Kensington Borough Council Cleansing Centre and Stonebridge Health
Centre 1.9.52 to 31.12.52
| New cases treated | Attendances | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scabies | Lice and nits | Total | Scabies | Lice and nits | Total | ||
| Children under 5 years | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Children 5-15 years | 4 | 28 | 32 | 9 | 28 | 37 | |
| Adults : | Men | - | - | — | 10 | 3 | 13 |
| (Women | 5 | 3 | 8 | ||||
| Total | 10 | 31 | 41 | 20 | 31 | 51 | |
The reduction in the number of cases dealt with in the second half of the year was propably due
partly to the altered arrangements which caused inconvenience to some families in adults and young children
having to travel to Kensington, while school children had to go to Stonebridge.
Establishments for Massa.ge and Special Treatment
The registration of establishments for massage and special treatment is delegated to the Borough
Council under Part XII of the Middlesex County Council Act, 1944.
Sanitary Inspectors supervise the 26 establishments registered in Willesden. Five new licences were
issued in 1952, 20 were renewed, and one establishment was exempted under section 363 of the Act as it
was run by a registered member of the Chartered Society of Massage and Medical Gymnastics (now the
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy).
Health Education
Doctors are today finding it more and more necessary to work with their colleagues and other health
workers in a team. As the theory and practice of medicine develops in complexity, it becomes impossible
for a doctor to treat his patients in splendid isolation. Also, with the development of social medicine, more
and more health workers begin to recognise the need to encourage people to take an interest in their health
and environment. The striking advances made in the reduction of infant and maternal mortality are
undoubtedly due in no small degree to the general spread of knowledge of maternal and infant care. An
extension of the knowledge of healthy living will help many people to avoid many mental and physical disorders.
Environment and better nutrition have also played a part; it is not sufficient merely to educate the
population to practise healthy habits of living in a standard environment, but also to help them overcome
the difficulties of inferior standards of living : to gain their confidence it is also necessary to show that we are
making serious efforts to improve these conditions. Moreover, social medicine draws attention to the social
causes of diseases, which clearly need community action for their prevention.
There have been many definitions of health education and many theories on how it should be presented
to the people. The most successful forms of health education are those integrated with the public
health work of the area; the diphtheria and tuberculosis campaigns in Willesden give striking examples of
this.