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efficient system to keep the situation under constant review.
There are, however, two aspects of the problem about which many
people still feel certain misgivings.
The Radio-active Substances Bill, which is at present going
through Parliament, has made provisions for the passing on of
essential information especially regarding the disposal of radioactive
waste, to local authorities. This is certainly a step in
the right direction, but many Medical Officers of Health would
still like to see provision made for the training of their staff,
or at least a proportion of their staff in all matters pertaining
to the use or disposal of radio-active substances. It may be that
the Radio-active Substances Bill will cover this point adequately,
but that is a matter which still remains to be seen.
The second point about which many of us feel certain misgivings
is the constant use of the term "re-assurance" when any
discussion takes place on radiation. I have little doubt that
this word is used in the best possible sense, but none the less
when one is constantly told that the public must be re-assured
there is still of necessity a doubt left in the public's mind that
they are not being given all the facts of the case. Indeed the
public should either be told quite clearly that the whole subject
of radiation is one which is best left in the hands of those most
competent to deal with it or they should be given the fullest
possible information and be allowed to judge for themselves.
Whether we like it or not the problems of radiation are with us,
and are causing a good deal of perturbation among those who take
the trouble to think about the problems raised by radiation. And
after all who does not fall within this category?
The fact that the Royal Commission for Local Government in
Greater London sat for many months during 1959 and is expected
to make its Report in the Autumn of 1960 may well affect the
future of Public Health in a Borough such as Wood Green, It would
be unwise to anticipate the contents of this Report but one must
envisage the possibility that, some time in the relatively near
future such matters as mental health and the operation of the
personal health services might well come within the ambit of the
Borough Council. Until the Report is received however, it would
certainly be injudicious to make any such assumptions. The fact
that for the past twelve years. I have been Area Medical Officer
for No. 2 Health Area under the Middlesex County Council and
that this Area includes the Borough of Wood Green has certainly
helped me in establishing the necessary liaison between the environmental
health services undertaken by the Borough Council and the
personal health services under the control of the County Council.
I also hope that this dual appointment has been of use to the
Borough Council in integrating work which is of the greatest
importance to the burgesses of Wood Green.
I cannot close this introduction without making special reference
to a subject which has always been very close to my heart,
the matter of harmonious co-operation. In Wood Green, it has
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