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Public Health Department,
Elmfield House,
High Street,
Teddington.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough of Twickenham.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my Annual Report and statistical tables on
the health and sanitary conditions of the borough for the year ending
December 31st, 1948.
The vital statistics for 1948 were by far the best ever recorded. The
general death rate was 10.04 per thousand of the estimated resident population,
which is a lower rate than in any of the war years. The infant death rate,
which is a sensitive index of the state of the public health, was 20.69 infant
deaths per thousand live births ; the previous best in Twickenham was 26.09
in 1946 ; for England and Wales the best was 34.00 in 1948. The still.birth
rate per thousand total births was 11.68, which indicates a high standard in
the health of expectant mothers, compared with the previous lowest, 16.48 in
1947. The inspections of children in schools revealed comparatively few
defects amongst the children, who are well fed and in good health. There
was no serious outbreak of infectious disease. Considering the difficulties of
rationing and catering, the health of the people of the borough is, generally
speaking, remarkably good. Nevertheless, it has been found that amongst
the women population there are signs of fatigue.
In the middle of a year which furnished such abundant evidence of the
Borough Council's success as a health authority, it ceased to be a health
authority. The personal health services.midwifery, maternity and child
welfare, health visiting, supervision of foster children, home helps, immunisation
and day nurseries.were severed from the environmental and sanitary
services; the buildings which housed the personal health services, the equipment
and staff, were all transferred to the County Council. As a health
authority, the Borough Council is now back where it was in the nineteenth
century.a sanitary authority responsible for house repairs, nuisances, food
inspection, destruction of rats and mice, and control of infectious diseases.
The Council's share in the administration of the South Middlesex Isolation
Hospital passed to the North.West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board.
These changes were not sought by the Borough Council, which can take
pride in the outstanding quality of its personal health services prior to the
transfer. The changes came about by reason of the National Health Service
Act, which transferred the personal health services of municipal boroughs to
county councils. The County of Middlesex was divided into ten areas for
public health purposes. Twickenham was combined with Feltham, Staines
and Sunbury in Area 10, and is administered by an Area Health Committee,
which is a sub.committee of the Health Committee of the County Council.
It was hoped that the delegated functions given to area committees would be
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