View report page

9
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the
Borough of Bromley.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit to you the Annual Report on
the Public Health of the Borough for the year 1949, which is my
twenty-fifth Annual Report to you.
Because of its residential character, Bromley can be expected
to have a good standard of health, and the vital statistics of 1949
continue to show a satisfactory state.
In spite of the fact that a large percentage of the wage
earners resident in Bromley must travel in overcrowded
carriages to and from their work in London during times of
stress and hurry, and in spite of the fact that a large number of
young families have no home of their own, but must share
accommodation, and in spite of the high rentage and high taxation,
all of which have an indirect effect upon the health of the
people, the vital statistics, as shown by death rates, show an
improvement year by year. The health of babies and of young
children continues to indicate that all is well; yet, as one looks
deep into the matter, one knows that the doctors' surgeries are
crowded, the hospitals have difficulty in meeting the demand
for beds, and there appears, to the careful observer, a tiredness
and anxiety in the adult population.
With the change of executive administration from truly
"local" government to "central" government, which has now
been operative since July, 1948, one notices the increase of forms
and form filling and the requirement to enter into correspondence
on even matters of minor detail. Every district has its
own special problems, and, while it is desirable to deal with
such problems as a part of a whole, the solving of the problem
is often better understood locally than centrally. My thirty
years' experience in Public Health has shown me the importance
of two facts—the interdependence of the personal health service
and environmental services, and that effective Health Administration
is dependent upon the facilities of approach of the ratepayer
to the executive Medical Officer. The first is now broken,
and the second difficult, because the administrative centre is
some 30 miles from the field of work.
During the 25 years prior to July, 1948, the Health Services
in Bromley grew from scattered units into a well-functioning
whole, satisfying to the people of Bromley and applicable to
their needs. My earnest hope is that the next 25 years will see
an uplift of services throughout the County.