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23.
SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES.
It is considered that, before detailing the work of the Department and the
various classifications under Sanitary Circumstances, it would be useful to
amplify important features, under this section of Public Health work.
Schedules of figures alone can be tiring and misleading, and frankly it is
considered that figures, whilst required for statistical and other reasons by
the Ministry, convey no resemblance to the work involved, or to the results of
effort made.
Take for example the number of Notices served. Notices vary in substance
from a few minor defects to a whole schedule, and consequently, the former
bears no resemblance to the latter in the volume of work involved.
The policy in Shoreditch is for a complete inspection to be made of the
whole premises concerning every complaint received.
This policy naturally increases the substance of each Notice, reduces the
grounds for further complaint, and automatically reduces the number of Notices
to be served.
One may therefore deduce that an excessive increase in the number of
complaints is a reflection upon the efficient working of a Department. As
a matter of interest, hereunder are factors one may consider to be responsible
for the dramatic reduction in the number of Notices since 1945 s-
(a) in order to obtain Building Licences, for several years after the
war, owners were literally begging for Notices to be served upon them.
(b) full inspections of whole premises carried out whenever a complaint
is received.
(c) the advent of the Rent Act 1957 prevented many tenants complaining
of justifiable defects, being afraid that this may result in an increase
of rent.
Never before has the number of rat complaints been lower in Shoreditch.
Never before have the Public Health Inspectors and Rodent Operatives been so
busily engaged in this work. 'Prevention is better than cure' is their maxim,
and this is an excellent example, that labour employed in prevention, is an
insurance against future trouble. This policy is reflected in all branches
of our work.
The reader must realise that there is no yardstick capable of measuring
the efforts made, and results achieved by all engaged in Public Health work,
no balance sheet can numerically assess the work, for unlike a productive
business concern who can display factual results, Public Health Officers
cannot factually represent the amount of disease and ill-health their labour
prevents.