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no longer have conditions attached to it in the case of any employee. Although it may prove
necessary in the future to call for medical examination candidates for employment whose medical
questionnaires have disclosed the presence of conditions which might later cause recurring absences
on sick leave and which before could have been "covered" by conditional sick pay admissions,
it is hoped that a re-styling of the medical questionnaire may make sufficient details available to
obviate the need for a medical examination in many cases and keep the percentage of assessments
by medical examination down to the 14% of last year.
During 1971, the Council agreed that a chest X-ray examination should be made a condition
of appointment for all prospective employees whose work involves close and continuous contact
with children and that such employees should be required to have regular chest X-ray examinations
subsequently at three yearly intervals.
Although the incidence of tuberculosis has declined over recent years and tuberculous
infection in children is becoming increasingly uncommon, a report issued by the Joint Tuberculosis
Committee of the British Thoracic and Tuberculosis Association, pointed out that epidemics of
tuberculosis amongst groups of children still occur and against a background of declining incidence,
such outbreaks appear even more tragic and every effort should be made to prevent them. On page
19 ot this report, reference is made to the investigation carried out in one of this Authority's junior
schools, when four schoolchildren were discovered to have been infected with tuberculosis and
one of the teachers was found to have active disease. The Department of Education and Science
Circular 3/69 recommended the need for three yearly chest X-ray examinations for all teaching
staff and the report of the Joint Tuberculosis Committee already referred to, recommended that all
adults whose employment involved close contact with groups of infants and children should be
X-rayed before taking up employment and a further chest X-ray examination carried out at intervals
of three years.
After consultation with the groups of employees affected, through their appropriate Joint
Committees, the recommendation was accepted.
PUBLIC MORTUARY
During the year the public mortuary was closed for 6 weeks whilst the work of extending the
premises and increasing the accommodation was carried out. The opportunity was taken to carry
out other necessary works of maintenance and repair. There is now a total of 21 refrigerator units
of which 3 are deep freeze.
The number of bodies received and post mortem examinations carried out during 1971 at
the Council's mortuary in Kingston Lane, Hillingdon were:
From Home Address:
Residents of Hillingdon 206
Residents of other districts 25
231
From Hospitals in the Area:
Residents of Hillingdon 371
Residents of other districts 275
646
From London Airport:
Residents of other districts 17
894
110