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PREFACE
Public Health Offices,
Ilford.
September, 1950.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough of Ilford.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I submit herewith the Annual Report on the Health Services for the
year 1949.
In February, 1950, Dr. Weir resigned his appointment of Medical Officer
of Health to take up a similar position with the Royal Borough of Kensington
and the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea. His departure was a matter of
great regret to his many friends and colleagues in Ilford, where he served
with ability and distinction for fifteen years—as Resident Medical Officer at
the Isolation Hospital, as Deputy Medical Officer of Health, and finally as
Medical Officer of Health. This report covers the last year of his stewardship;
that continuity and completeness is preserved in the following pages is
largely due to the efforts of members of all sections of the Public Health
Department.
During 1949 the new system of administration of the personal health
services under Part III of the National Health Service Act, by means of a
sub-Committee of the County Health Committee, was further developed.
Stresses were made apparent, but nevertheless I believe the services supplied
to the public of Ilford were of a high order.
Vital statistics continue to show that the health of the inhabitants of
Ilford remains well above the average for England and Wales. The most
important index, the infant mortality rate, continues to fall and reached the
record low level of 20.1 deaths per 1,000 live births, as compared with 32 for
England and Wales, and 29 for the Administrative County of London.
Another significant index of hygiene is the number of deaths per 1,000 live
births from diarrhoea and enteritis in children under 2. For Ilford it is 0 4,
for England and Wales 3, and for the Administrative County of London 1.7.
Neonatal Mortality, deaths of infants under the age of 4 weeks, again fell to
a new low record of 12'5 per 1,000 live births.
The death rate is, however, showing an opposite tendency and has risen
from 8.4 per 1,000 to 9.5. These extra 210 deaths over the previous year
can be accounted for entirely by the higher mortality from cancer, heart
disease and the effects of arterio-sclerosis. A similar tendency prevails
throughout the country and is the result of an ageing population with a
decline in births.
The birth rate continues to fall from the high level reached immediately
after the war and was 14.5 per 1,000, as compared with 15.8 the previous
year. Should this fall continue and the maternity beds controlled by the
Regional Hospital Board continue to be utilised as fully as they are to-day,
it is to be anticipated that there will be some difficulty in providing sufficient
work for the domiciliary midwives. Such a tendency is already becoming
apparent. It is to be noted, however, that there were 2,403 marriages last
year, as compared with 1,736 in 1948.
The environmental hygiene section continues to be fully occupied. Certain
diseases, such as smallpox and typhoid, are controlled and others, such as
cholera, banished, but lest we relax, other problems arise that prove less
amenable to our efforts. I refer especially to poliomyelitis, of which 33 cases
were notified and 4 died, and food poisoning, of which 82 notifications were
received, both these incidences being the highest so far in Ilford. The