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9
Births.
The number of live births was 3,828, a slight fall on the figure of
the previous year, but very many more than the figure recorded for any
earlier year. The birth rate per 1,000 population was 17.7 as contrasted
with the figure of 20.5 for the country as a whole.
Deaths.
Of the 1,224 deaths which 'occurred in this district 109 were of
persons not resident in the area. Thirty-five of these took place in
the various hospitals, 19 in nursing homes and 6 in Oxhey Grove, a
home for the elderly.
Of the 719 deaths of local residents which occurred outside the district
most took place in institutions, 242 being in Redhill Hospital, 23 in Redhill
House and 88 including 4 new born infants at other county institutions.
Many of these deaths were of the elderly who probably spent the last years
of their lives in these institutions. Seven deaths occurred in institutions
for the treatment of the tuberculous. Forty-nine deaths took place in
hospitals just outside the district, including 9 in the isolation hospitals
of other authorities. A hundred and fifty-one died at various of the
London hospitals. This figure does not necessarily bear any relationship
to the deficiency of local hospital beds, as from a district so near
to London as this, many patients are referred for admission to special
hospitals or to special departments of the general hospitals.
Deducting from the 1,224 deaths which occurred in the area, the
109 which were of non-residents and adding the 719 inward transferred
deaths, namely those of local residents which occurred outside the
district, results in a total of 1,834 deaths, a figure slightly above the
1,816 of last year and the highest figure ever recorded for this district.
This is a death rate per 1,000 population of 8.5. Before the war the
rate was almost constant at 7.7. This low rate was largely due to the
abnormal age constitution of the population, a factor common to
developing districts and resulting from the undue proportion amongst
the population of those of low risk of death. During the war years the
figure rose to 9.1. This it was thought was due to the influx into the
district of a number of the elderly. With the return of those from the
services the rate fell in 1946 to 8.6. As most of what new houses are
built are occupied by families already living in the district, there will
be no repetition of the pre-war large influx of young families. The age
constitution of the population then will tend to become more normal.
It is improbable then that the death rate will ever fall to the pre-war
figure. It will, after a period of ranging between 8.0 and 9.0, rise because
of the general ageing of the population. Even when the time arrives
that the age constitution of the population is much that of the country
as a whole, the rate will probably remain something below the national
rate which last year was 12.0. This will be because the district is
healthier than the average for the country as a whole.
The following is the Registrar-General's abridged list of the causes
of the deaths of those in the district :