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Public Health Department,
White Hart Lane (Old) School,
Wood Green, N.22.
30th July, 1953.
To The Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Borough of Wood Green.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present the Annual Report of the Medical
Officer of Health for the year 1952. It will be appreciated that
Dr. Manson was Medical Officer of Health for Wood Green until
his retirement on May 5th, 1952, and that he was therefore
responsible for the work mentioned in this Report during the first
four months of the year.
The form taken by the Annual Report for 1952 is, broadly
speaking, the same as that for previous years, except that I have
taken the opportunity to comment specifically on several matters
which in my opinion, should be brought to the notice of the
Council. It will also be appreciated that the personal health
services, i.e., the work carried out by the Maternity and Child
Welfare Clinics, Immunisation, Vaccination and related matters,
are carried out in Wood Green by the Middlesex County Council.
It is generally understood that we should only comment on these
services in an uncritical manner, as anything in advance of this
would obviously be invidious. I am not suggesting in any way
that the personal health services in Wood Green are unsatisfactory.
As I am the Area Medical Officer, responsible for the day-to-day
administration of the County Health Services operating within the
Borough, i.e., the personal health services concerned, further comment
will be unnecessary. None-the-less, it would be quite impossible
to present a composite picture of the health of the community
without including information relating to personal health services,
and without linking up this work with environmental hygiene, for
which the Borough Council is directly responsible.
It is in many ways unfortunate that the present set-up, so far
as local government is concerned, has divorced the personal health
services from County Districts which were responsible for building
up these services and whose record over so many years gives every
reason for satisfaction. This has made it impracticable to include
several paragraphs which were formerly a feature of the Medical
Officer of Health's Report. We must abide by existing regulations,
however, and hope that the contents of the Annual Report,
although restricted, will still be of interest.
It should not be thought from the remarks set out above that
the work of the Public Health Department has dwindled to insignificance.
This is very far from being the case. Although our work
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