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9
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the
Borough of Bromley.
Mr. Mayor. Ladies and Gentlemen,
In an age when the majority of people have a surfeit of rather
indigestible reading matter they are compelled to study, it is perhaps
expecting too much to imagine that my words will be ravenously
devoured by a large section of the population, but something will
have been attained if those who have read as far as this, have had
their interest sufficiently aroused to pursue this letter to its close.
A determined effort has been made this year to try and make
the report more readable and this has involved a good deal of
alteration in its composition, including a cover which it is hoped
will be thought to be more eye catching and attractive than formerly.
The theme of what follows will be the ever widening scope of
the field of prevention. The main preoccupations of the Public
Health department of the now fairly distant past, were such things
as big epidemics of infectious disease and the eradication of the
grosser forms of bad environmental hygiene. To-day we are still
faced with many problems but the emphasis has shifted considerably.
For example, we are all familiar with the expression
" An Englishman's home is his castle " which is obviously meant
to indicate amongst other things, that it is a place of safety and
security for the family and yet. with all the publicity given to the
toll of the roads, one feels that in too many instances, the most
elementary precautions against home accidents are being neglected.
Accidents in the home are, of course, not notifiable to the local
authority but their toll in injury and even death in any one year in
a town of this size is very considerable. The pangs of remorse
suffered by those for instance who have caused injury to a child
through failure to provide the simple measure of a proper fire
guard, are a terrible thing but one cannot help wondering how often
such carelessness is perpetuated until the fatal day suddenly and
unexpectedly dawns. In addition, elderly persons are peculiarly
susceptible to the dangers of fire, as they are to the risk of falls due
to slippery floors, loose stair carpets and bad lighting. These are
but a few of the hazards of the home, and the reader having had his
or her attention drawn to this aspect of prevention, will be able to
think of many more, and having thought will. I hope, take suitable
evasive action before it is too late.
Having referred to elderly people in the previous paragraph,
it would seem that this is the appropriate time to touch on some
of the many grievous problems that remain to be solved in this
connection. As has been the case of recent years, the main difficulty