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6
To-day there are six Sanitary Inspectors, eight Clerks, four Health
Visitors, six School Nurses, four Doctors and a Dentist engaged
in the work of Public Health.
The citizen of to-day is under medical supervision from the cradle
to the grave!
An extra ten years' longevity is claimed as the result of general
Public Health work throughout the country, but how much of this
can be legitimately claimed for our citizens by your Authority is
difficult to estimate.
Owing to the character of our population the District is heavily
rated, our leisured classes are few and Voluntary Public Health
services—apart from the excellent work carried out at Brookscroft
—is minimal.
As a result our Maternity and Child Welfare work is less than the
needs of the Community warrant and below that which your
Authority is anxious to give.
In all other respects the services rendered our citizens will compare
favourably with those in the other extra Metropolitan Districts.
Judging by results as evidenced by the Statistics given by the
Registrar General we can legitimately claim a favoured place even
among the very best administered Urban Districts and large Towns
throughout the country
From a perusal of the body of the Report it will be seen that the
year 1925 was a favourable one. The figures supplied by the
Registrar General are for the calendar year and are taken as the
basis of all rates.
Our Birth-Rate at 17.9 per 1,000 of the population was greater
than in 1924 and only slightly less than that of London or the
Great Towns.
It will be noticed from Table XI on page 33 that our Birth-rate
taken out for five-yearly periods shows a steady decline from 37.3
in 1891 to 17.4 in 1924. The average from 1891-95 was 34.4;
that for 1921-25 was 19.2.
In 1891, one in eight children born died within the year, whereas
in 1925 only one in twenty born failed to survive; in other words
our natural increase of population—that is, excess of births over
deaths—in 1925 was only 20 less than in 1891.
Taking the period 1891-95 the average Birth-rate was 34.4 and
the natural increase of population 1,003. The Birth-rate of 1921-25
was 19.2 and the natural increase of population 1,144, or a gain in
the later period of 141, in spite of the lowered birth-rate.