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12
The Future.
A long list of achievements such as I have laid out here in the preface
might give rise to the impression that there is less work for the Medical
Officer of Health to perform. This is far from true. We shall not be
able to rest until we can assure the public of clean air, clean food, no
unnecessary noise; that all old people are treated adequately and humanely,
and that an effort is being made to reduce the increasing burden of mental
ill health in the population, a burden which fills over half the beds in the
hospitals and a large proportion of the time of the family doctor.
Voluntary Help.
Once again I must draw attention to the great help which is given
to me in my work by the voluntary associations in the town. In fact, with
some such associations, such as the Old People's Welfare Committee, the
Handicapped Persons Committee, the new Workrooms for the Elderly,
the Ilford Home Safety Committee and the Tuberculosis Care Association,
the relationship between the department and the voluntary workers is so
close that the distinction between so-called statutory bodies and voluntary
bodies is indefinite. The Ilford Federation of Women Voluntary Welfare
Workers continues to ease our tasks in the baby clinics.
It is with great regret that I must mention the death of Mrs. A. M.
Pearce, the late Chairman of the Ilford Tuberculosis Care Committee and
one of the representatives of the voluntary bodies on the Ilford Health
Area Sub-Committee.
Tables may be very dull reading, but things are made easier by the
various reports of specialists and other officers that are distributed throughout
the report. I would suggest that such reports are consulted.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the efficiency of my staff and the
unstinted co-operation that they have given me during the past year. Some
of the information for this report has been given to me by Chief Officers
of other departments and I would like to thank them for this and also
their full co-operation throughout the year.
I would like to express my thanks to the members of the Council,
especially to the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Members of the Committees
of the Ilford Borough Council and Essex County Council with whom I work.
I have the honour to be
Your obedient Servant,
I. GORDON.
Medical Officer of Health.