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1
Health Department,
Parkshot,
Richmond.
August, 1949.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Borough of Richmond (Surrey).
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present the Annual Report of the Medical
Officer of Health for the year 1948 upon the Sanitary Circumstances,
Sanitary Administration and Vital Statistics of the Borough.
On the 5th July certain services which had long been under
the control of the Council were transferred to the Surrey County
Council under the National Health Service Act, 1946.
These Services included the Ambulance Service, all schemes in
connection with the Care of Mothers and Young Children and the
Home Help Service.
In 1945, under the Education Act, 1944. there was a similar
transfer of the School Medical Service.
These Services had been built up over a long period of years
and were as highly developed as those in any part of the country.
Richmond cannot gain anything by the transfer but I have no
doubt that the centralized administration will lead to improvements
in the more backward areas.
All who were concerned with these Services regretted the
neccessity for the transfer. Under the County Council's Scheme for
Divisional Administration, Richmond and Barnes have become the
Northern Division, and the majority of the local services are administered
by a Divisional Sub-Committee composed of members of the
two local Councils and the Surrey County Council. In this way
local interest has been maintained.
As Divisional Medical Officer, as well as your Medical Officer
of Health, I am in a position to provide most of the figures relating
to these Services for the whole of the year. With the concurrence