[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Walthamstow]

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SCHEDULE WALTHAMSTOW HEALTH SERVICES Comparison between 1955 and 1930

		1955	1930

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Causes of Death as given by the Registrar-General for the year 1955 Whole District

Causes of Death				Males	Females	Total	1954

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The table has been prepared with the assistance of the Registrar General's office.

Year	Total Deaths		Rate per 1,000 population
Year	Eng. & Wales	Walthamstow	Eng. & Wales	Walthamstow

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In order to put these deaths in proper perspective, the following comparison is made:—

Cause of death		1954	1955

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INFANT DEATHS, NEONATAL MORTALITY AND STILLBIRTHS

Year.	Live Births.	Live Birth Rate per 1,000 Population.	Stillbirths.			Neo-Natal Deaths.		Infant Deaths.
Year.	Live Births.	Live Birth Rate per 1,000 Population.	No.	Per 1.000 total (live and still) births.	Per 1,000 population.	No.	Per 1,000 live births.	No.	Per 1,000 live births.

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During 1955 one death was classified as being due to pregnancy, childbearing or associated therewith. The details are included in the following table:—

Date of Death	Certified Cause of Death	Age

Page 14

The maternal mortality rates (per 1,000 total births) for the past five years have been given as follows:—

Year.	Total Births Registered.	Deaths.			Rates per 1,000 Births. (Live and Still)
Year.	Total Births Registered.	Puerperal Sepsis.	Other Puerperal Causes.	Total.	Puerperal Sepsis.	Other Puerperal Causes.	Total.

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The following table shows the maternal mortality, stillbirth and neo-natal death rates for the past five years:—

Rate (per 1,000 live births)	1955	1954	1953	1952	1951

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REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS The Registrar-General's returns show the following registra tions during the calendar year:—

Live Births.	Males.	Females.	Totals.

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Of the 1,467 local registrations, 453 belonging to other areas are excluded, leaving a net total of 1,014. There were no non-notified births during 1955.

	St. James Street.		High Street.		Hoe Street.		Wood Street.		Hale End.		Higham Hill.		Total.
	M.	F.	M.	F.	M.	F.	M.	F.	M.	F.	M.	F.	M.	F.

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Dr. Frank Marsh, Pathologist in charge of the Laboratory at Epping, has kindly supplied the following information in regard to work done for Walthamstow:—

Specimens	Jan.	Feb.	Mar.	Apr.	May	June	July	Aug.	Sept.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Total

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The number of specimens examined at the Colindale laboratories during the latter part of the year were as follows:—

Specimens	June	July	Aug.	Sept.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Total

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The following table shows the position in regard to hospital admissions considered and supported on "social" grounds.

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8. Public Health Act, 1936—Nursing Homes :—

	No. of Homes.	No. of Patients provided for.
	No. of Homes.	Maternity Patients.	Others.	Totals.

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Sanitary Inspection of the Area Mr. W. Richards, Chief Sanitary Inspector, reports as follows :

No. of inspections made.	No. of nuisances detected.	No. of complaints received.	No. of Intimation Notices		No. of Statutory Notices.		Total Visits.
No. of inspections made.	No. of nuisances detected.	No. of complaints received.	Served.	Complied with.	Served.	Complied with.	Total Visits.

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Rooms disinfected, 97; Articles disinfected, 775; Articles destroyed, 53.

Special Premises.	Number	Visits paid

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Houses erected by the Local Authority. 1955.

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Houses erected by Private Enterprise.

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The numbers of families rehoused in the New Towns have been as follows:—

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The following table will summarise the housing applications as at 31st December, 1955, the units of overcrowding and the accommodation required to meet the applications :—

Applications :	Walthamstow Borough	Outside Borough	Total

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Accommodation required :

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The position at the end of 1955 was as follows :—

	Class 1	Class 2	Class 3	Total

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The following table gives details of samples taken

Grade	No. of Samples	Results
Grade	No. of Samples	Satisfactory	Unsatisfactory (Methylene Blue Test)

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Poliomyelitis first became notifiable on 1st September, 1912, and up to 1946, the only year in which there was a greater incidence than the average for years 1946/54 was in 1916 when the total notified was 27, i.e., more than in the peak post-war year of 1947.

AGE GROUPS									WARDS
Year	Under 1	1-5	5-15	15-25	25-45	45-65	65 over	Totals	S. Jms St.	High St.	Hoe St.	Wood St.	Hale End	Hi. H.

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MENINGOCOCCAL INFECTION Three cases were notified, the particulars being as follows :—

	Sex	Age	Ward	Hospital	Remarks

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2. Food Poisoning Notifications (Corrected) Returned to R.G.

1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Total

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5. Single Cases.

Agent Identified		Unknown Cause	Total

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The following table shows particulars of new cases of tuberculosis and of all deaths from the disease in the Borough during 1955 :—-

Age Periods.	New Cases.				Deaths.
Age Periods.	Pulmonary.		Non-Pulmonary.		Pulmonary.		Non-Pulmonary.
	M.	F.	M.	F.	M.	F.	M.	F.

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The returns for the past two years are compared below :—

Year.	New Cases.					Deaths.
Year.	Pulmonary.		Non-Pulmonary.		Total.	Pulmonary.		Non-Pulmonary.		Total.
	M.	F.	M.	F.		M.	F.	M.	F.

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The period elapsing between notification and death and the number of cases not notified were as follows :—

Under 3 months.		3 to 6 months.		6 to 9 months.		9 to 12 months.		Over 12 months.		Not notified.		Notified after death.
Pul.	NonPul.	Pul.	NonPul.	Pul.	NonPul.	Pul.	NonPul.	Pul.	NonPul.	Pul.	NonPul.	Pul.	NonPul.

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MORBIDITY The arrangement under which a statement of new claims for Sickness Benefit is received weekly from the Ministry of National Insurance has provided an interesting measure of morbidity. During the past four years the weekly averages of new claims were as follows. The extraordinary consistency of those for the months of June to November will be noted.

	1952	1953	1954	1955

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The number of cases dealt with and the approximate cost were as follows :—

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(d) Inquests and Post Martems.

	Walthamstow	Others	Total

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Herewith is a summary of the work carried out during the years 1954 and 1955: —

		1954	1955

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DENTAL LABORATORY Herewith is a list of the appliances completed for the General Dental Service :

	1954	1955

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During the year the following work was carried out for the Walthamstow and Leyton Committees for Education :—

	Walthamstow	Leyton

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The following appliances were completed for the Regional Hospital Board. This work is now done for patients in the Connaught, Harts and King George Hospitals :—

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The following work was undertaken for Maternity and Child Welfare Patients :—

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The following table summarises the attendances at the Clinics held :—

New Patients-	Ante-Natal	Post-Natal

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Continued from previous page...

Total Attendances—	Ante-Natal	Post-Natal

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INFANT MORTALITY The deaths of infants under one year were as follows

	Males.	Females.	Totals.

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Of the 27 deaths 23 occurred in the first month of life of which 19 were in the first week, the age group distribution being as under:

Hours	Day	Week	Week	Mth.	Mth.	Mth.	Mth.	Mth.	Mth.	Mth.	Mth.	Mth.
0—24	l—1		1—1		1—3		3—6		6—9		9—12

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CAUSES OF DEATH OF CHILDREN UNDER 1 YEAR OF AGE—1955

	Under 1 week.	1-2 weeks.	2-3 weeks.	3-4 weeks.	Total deaths under 4 weeks.	4 weeks and under 3 months.	3 months and under 6 months.	6 months and under 9 months.	9 months and under 12 months.	Total deaths under 1 year.	St. James St.	High Street.	Hoe Street.	Wood Street.	Hale End.	Higham Hill.	Total.

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Illegitimate Births and Mortality

Year	Live Births		Infant Deaths		Death Rates per 1.000 Live Births
Year	Legitimate	Illegitimate	Legitimate	Illegitimate	Legitimate	Illegitimate

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Details of cases dealt with are as follows:-

Admitted	Adults	Babies	Total

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Summary of Attendances at Child Welfare Clinics

Clinic	First Attendances of New Cases				Re-Attendances				Grand Total
Clinic	Under 1 yr. of age	1 yr. old	2-5 yrs. of age	Total	Under 1 yrs. of age	1 yrs. old	2-5 yrs. of age	Total	Grand Total

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The work done during the calendar year is shown in the following table compiled from information kindly supplied by Miss D. Carter:—

Year	First Attendances				Re-Attendances				Grand Total
Year	Under 1 yr. of age	1 yr. old	2-5 yrs. of age	Total	Under l yr. of age	1 yr. old	2-5 yrs. of age	Total	Grand Total

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Summary of Attendances at all Child Welfare Clinics

	First Attendances				Re-Attendances				Grand Total
	Under 1 yr. of age	1 year old	2-5 years of age	Total	Under 1 yr. of age	1 yr. old	2-5 years of age	Total	Grand Total

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Patients inspected and treated during the year:

	Expectant Mothers	Nursing Mothers	Children Under School age

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Types of treatment given:

	Expectant Mothers	: Nursing Mothers	Children under School age

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Types of treatment given— continued

	Expectant Mothers	Nursing Mothers	Children under School age

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PROVISION OF NUTRIENTS AND MEDICAMENTS Details of nutrients and medicaments sold and issued free during 1955 are as follows:—

	Sales		Free Issue

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Continued from previous page...

	Sales		Free Issue
	lbs.	ozs.	lbs.	ozs.

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The following table shows the distribution of welfare foods at individual centres:—

DISTRIBUTION CENTRE	National Dried Milk (Tins)	Cod Liver Oil (Bottles)	Vitamin Tablets (Packets)	Orange Juice (Bottles)

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The following table shows the average attendances at the Day Nurseries during 1955 (Mondays to Fridays only).

Month	Nurseries	Under 2 yrs.	Over 2 yrs.	Total

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Details in respect of 1954 and 1955 are as follows:-

	1954	1955

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These thirteen children were in the care of a Daily Guardian for periods as follows: (Five of the children continued to be cared for in 1956.)

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The following table shows the work done by Midwives during 1955:—

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The previous table includes the following numbers in regard to work done at Thorpe Coombe Maternity Hospital:—

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The table below shows the number of visits carried out by the District Midwives and Home Nurse/Midwives:—

	Ante-Natal Examinations			Deliveries		Lying-in Visits	Total Visits
	Patients Homes	Midwife's House	Clinic	Mid.	Mat.

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Home Visits

	To Children under 1 year of age			Children 1 year of age	Children 2-5 years of age	TOTAL
	First	Subsequent	Total	Children 1 year of age	Children 2-5 years of age	TOTAL

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The following table shows the number and nature of visits paid in 1955.

Ward	Visits to Children under 1 year			Visits to Children under 1 year of age	Visits to Children 2—5 years of age	Grand Total	Unsuccessful Visits	Ante-Natal Visits			Other Visits	Total Visits
	First Visits	Subsc quent Visits	Total Visits	Visits to Children under 1 year of age	Visits to Children 2—5 years of age	Grand Total	Unsuccessful Visits	First Visits	Subsequent Visits	Total Visits	Other Visits	Total Visits
	(i)	(2)	0)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)	—	—	(8)	(9)	Cols. 6-9

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"The following gives details of Home Visits during the year:—

	New cases	Total visits

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VACCINATION The number and ages of persons vaccinated are shown below:—

	Age at date of Vaccination
	Under 6 months	6-12 months	1 year	2—4 years	5—14 years	15 years and over	Total

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DIPHTHERIA IMMUNISATION 1955 The following is a summary of the work carried out during the year:—

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Details of the immunisations included in the above total are set out below:—

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During the past five years the numbers immunised in the various age groups were as follows :—

Age at Immunisation									Notified Cases
Year	0—1 year	1—2 years	2—3 years	3—4 years	4—5 years	Total 0 5 years	School Age	Grand Total	Admitted to Hospital	Diagnosis Confirmed	Deaths

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Number of children at 31st December, 1955, who had completed a course of immunisation at any time before that date (i.e., at any time since 1st January, 1941):—

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IMMUNISATION AGAINST WHOOPING COUGH The numbers and age groups of children immunised during the year are shown in the following table:—

	Age at date of Final Injection
	Under 6 mths.	6—12 mths.	1 year	2—4 years	5 years and over	Total

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Details are given below:—

Date of birth	Date immunised	Date notified	Remarks	M.R.C. classification

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DOMESTIC HELP SERVICE, 1955

		Maternity	Acute Sick	Tuberculous	Chronic Sick Aged Others		Aged not Sick	Others	Total

London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

View report tables

Walthamstow 1955

71 tables in this report

SCHEDULE WALTHAMSTOW HEALTH SERVICES Comparison between 1955 and 1930

Causes of Death as given by the Registrar-General for the year 1955 Whole District

The table has been prepared with the assistance of the Registrar General's office.

In order to put these deaths in proper perspective, the following comparison is made:—

INFANT DEATHS, NEONATAL MORTALITY AND STILLBIRTHS

During 1955 one death was classified as being due to pregnancy, childbearing or associated therewith. The details are included in the following table:—

The maternal mortality rates (per 1,000 total births) for the past five years have been given as follows:—

The following table shows the maternal mortality, stillbirth and neo-natal death rates for the past five years:—

REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS The Registrar-General's returns show the following registra tions during the calendar year:—

Of the 1,467 local registrations, 453 belonging to other areas are excluded, leaving a net total of 1,014. There were no non-notified births during 1955.

Dr. Frank Marsh, Pathologist in charge of the Laboratory at Epping, has kindly supplied the following information in regard to work done for Walthamstow:—

The number of specimens examined at the Colindale laboratories during the latter part of the year were as follows:—

The following table shows the position in regard to hospital admissions considered and supported on "social" grounds.

8. Public Health Act, 1936—Nursing Homes :—

Sanitary Inspection of the Area Mr. W. Richards, Chief Sanitary Inspector, reports as follows :

Rooms disinfected, 97; Articles disinfected, 775; Articles destroyed, 53.

Houses erected by the Local Authority. 1955.

Houses erected by Private Enterprise.

The numbers of families rehoused in the New Towns have been as follows:—

The following table will summarise the housing applications as at 31st December, 1955, the units of overcrowding and the accommodation required to meet the applications :—

Accommodation required :

The position at the end of 1955 was as follows :—

The following table gives details of samples taken

Poliomyelitis first became notifiable on 1st September, 1912, and up to 1946, the only year in which there was a greater incidence than the average for years 1946/54 was in 1916 when the total notified was 27, i.e., more than in the peak post-war year of 1947.

MENINGOCOCCAL INFECTION Three cases were notified, the particulars being as follows :—

2. Food Poisoning Notifications (Corrected) Returned to R.G.

5. Single Cases.

The following table shows particulars of new cases of tuberculosis and of all deaths from the disease in the Borough during 1955 :—-

The returns for the past two years are compared below :—

The period elapsing between notification and death and the number of cases not notified were as follows :—

The number of cases dealt with and the approximate cost were as follows :—

(d) Inquests and Post Martems.

Herewith is a summary of the work carried out during the years 1954 and 1955: —

DENTAL LABORATORY Herewith is a list of the appliances completed for the General Dental Service :

During the year the following work was carried out for the Walthamstow and Leyton Committees for Education :—

The following appliances were completed for the Regional Hospital Board. This work is now done for patients in the Connaught, Harts and King George Hospitals :—

The following work was undertaken for Maternity and Child Welfare Patients :—

The following table summarises the attendances at the Clinics held :—

Continued from previous page...

INFANT MORTALITY The deaths of infants under one year were as follows

Of the 27 deaths 23 occurred in the first month of life of which 19 were in the first week, the age group distribution being as under:

CAUSES OF DEATH OF CHILDREN UNDER 1 YEAR OF AGE—1955

Illegitimate Births and Mortality

Details of cases dealt with are as follows:-

Summary of Attendances at Child Welfare Clinics

The work done during the calendar year is shown in the following table compiled from information kindly supplied by Miss D. Carter:—

Summary of Attendances at all Child Welfare Clinics

Patients inspected and treated during the year:

Types of treatment given:

Types of treatment given— continued

PROVISION OF NUTRIENTS AND MEDICAMENTS Details of nutrients and medicaments sold and issued free during 1955 are as follows:—

Continued from previous page...

The following table shows the distribution of welfare foods at individual centres:—

The following table shows the average attendances at the Day Nurseries during 1955 (Mondays to Fridays only).

Details in respect of 1954 and 1955 are as follows:-

These thirteen children were in the care of a Daily Guardian for periods as follows: (Five of the children continued to be cared for in 1956.)

The following table shows the work done by Midwives during 1955:—

The previous table includes the following numbers in regard to work done at Thorpe Coombe Maternity Hospital:—

The table below shows the number of visits carried out by the District Midwives and Home Nurse/Midwives:—

Home Visits

The following table shows the number and nature of visits paid in 1955.

"The following gives details of Home Visits during the year:—

VACCINATION The number and ages of persons vaccinated are shown below:—

DIPHTHERIA IMMUNISATION 1955 The following is a summary of the work carried out during the year:—

Details of the immunisations included in the above total are set out below:—

During the past five years the numbers immunised in the various age groups were as follows :—

Number of children at 31st December, 1955, who had completed a course of immunisation at any time before that date (i.e., at any time since 1st January, 1941):—

IMMUNISATION AGAINST WHOOPING COUGH The numbers and age groups of children immunised during the year are shown in the following table:—

Details are given below:—

DOMESTIC HELP SERVICE, 1955