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

View report page

Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London

Chingford 1939

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Chingford]

This page requires JavaScript

Text

Copy text to clipboard

SANITARY INSPECTION OF THE AREA
Inspections on Complaint
The number of complaints received at the office and recorded
in the register was 439, as compared with 448 in the previous
year, and 490 for the year 1937.
The total inspections made on complaint was 455, and the
number of defects or nuisances revealed was 262, which are
analysed in the following table. Informal notices were at once
served on the owners or occupiers of the premises concerned.
Once again it will be observed that the number of visits is in
excess of the defects found, which indicates that many visits were
paid in which no action could be taken under the Housing and
Public Health Acts.

Table: Table 1

Table 1

Dirty premises10
Defective eaves, gutters and roofs20
Defective sink and waste pipes1
Yard and W.C. drains blocked94
Accumulations of offensive matter12
Smoke nuisances6
Dampness15
Defective drainage12
Insufficient flushing to W.C.s2
Defective dustbins45
Defective external brickwork2
Defective floors1
Defective firegrates and stoves4
Verminous premises1
Defective wall and ceiling plaster13
Defective W.C.s2
Defective woodwork of windows and doors4
Breach of Bye-Laws2
Miscellaneous10
Insufficient W.C. accommodation1
Yard and passage surfaces defective2
Animals kept so as to be a nuisance2
Overcrowding1
262