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

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Southall 1957

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southall]

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VITAL STATISTICS
Total deaths, 690. (Males, 342: Females, 348.)
Crude Death Rate, 13.02 (including deaths in St. Bernard's Hospital and Vine Cottage);
9.19 (excluding these deaths).
For extracts from vital statistics and causes of death, see Appendix, Tables I and II.

Deaths and Death Rate

The death rate, i.e. the number of deaths per 1,000 total population, which had beei falling gradually each year since 1953, rose in 1956, and again in 1957, the comparativi figures being:—

YearDeath Rate
195313.31
19541216
19551192
195612.25
1957 .1302

This rate is calculated from figures which include the deaths in the long.stay institutions
such as St. Bernard's Hospital and Vine Cottage, and since the proportion of former
residents of Southall occupying beds in these institutions is comparatively small, particularly
as St. Bernard's Hospital has a catchment area extending beyond Middlesex into neighbouring
counties, the death rate calculated from the figure excluding these deaths is more nearly
accurate. This, however, has also risen from 8.53 in 1956 to 9.19 in 1957.
The principal causes of death were heart disease, diseases of the circulatory system and
cancer. There was a slight rise in the number of deaths from heart disease; the number of
deaths from diseases of the circulation, however, showed a very steep rise, particularly
coronary disease both in males and females. On the other hand deaths from cancer dropped
from 132 in 1956 to 113 in 1957.
There were no deaths from whooping cough, diphtheria or poliomyelitis, but there
was one death from measles—an infant of eighteen months. A rise occurred in the number
of deaths from tuberculosis, the figure, which fell from 13 in 1954 to 8 in 1955, rose to 9 in
1956 and 13 in 1957. Eight people died from influenza and there was a rise in the deaths
from pneumonia.
The number of outside deaths, i.e. of Southall residents who died in Hillingdon Hospital,
other Middlesex hospitals and hospitals outside the County boundaries, including various
London hospitals, was 259 (males 139 and females 120).
Deaths of institution inmates (including patients from Southall addresses and from
outside areas) number as follows: St. Bernard's Hospital, 204 (males 80 and females 124);
Mount Pleasant Hospital, 4 (all male); Southall.Norwood Hospital, 9 (4 male and 5 female);
Vine Cottage, 9 (4 male and 5 female); in addition 6 deaths (2 male and 4 female) occurred
of persons belonging to other districts and residing temporarily in Southall.
In 1957, eight people died as the result of motor vehicle accidents, as compared with 6
in 1956. It is regrettable that there has not been a year free from motor vehicle accident
deaths since 1954. The total number of deaths from violent causes was down on the previous
year—23 in 1957 as compared with 27 in 1956.
T0 make an approximate allowance for the way in which the sex and age distribution of
the local population differs from that of England and Wales as a whole, the crude death
rate is multiplied by a comparability factor supplied by the Registrar.General. This, then,
gives a comparative death rate of 11.33, compared with the rate for England and Wales as
a whole, which was 115.
For distribution of deaths in the various wards, see Appendix, Table III.
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