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7
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER
OF HEALTH
Department of Health Services,
P.O. Box 25,
Hanover House,
Lyon Road,
Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 2EH.
To The Worshipful the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the London
Borough of Harrow.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present the Annual Report on the health and
sanitary conditions of Harrow for the year 1972 on behalf of Dr. W.
Cormack who is now in South Africa.
There were two upheavals in the work of the Department during the
year. The new Social Services Department started in April and took over
the responsibility for the provision of a number of services previously
provided by the Health Department. This division resulted in a reorganisation
and re-distribution of work in the Health Department in the first
quarter of the year. During the rest of the year a more gradual reorganisation
had to be carried out in the light of the impending integration of the
National Health Service from 1st April, 1974. All work carried out in the
Health Department had to be considered in this light and modified
accordingly.
The new integrated service would provide for an amalgamation of
the local health services provided by Local Authorities, G.P.'s and
hospitals to the benefit of the patient for whom comprehensive care could
be provided. The work of this Department was already linked closely with
the work of general practitioners and hospitals in Harrow. During the
year the community nursing services which already had links with general
practitioners were extended until every general practitioner, if he so
wished, had nursing staff from the Department attached to his practice.
These liaison schemes were also extended to include local hospitals.
The vital statistics for the year provided by the Registrar General,
again showed a continued decrease of population to 203,730 in the middle
of the year. The live birth rate per 1,000 population remained at 14.
Illegitimate births formed only 5 % of this total, but the infant mortality
rate amongst this group was nearly three times as high as the rate for
legitimate births.