London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Sutton 1970
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Sutton]
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Personal Health Services
Local Health Authority Personal Health Services are provided under the various sections
of Part III of the National Health Service Act 1946, and are complementary to the services provided
by the Regional Hospital Boards and Executive Councils.
The Local Authority Health Services give particular emphasis to the more vulnerable
members of the community - the very young, expectant mothers, the elderly and the handicapped
and are concerned with the maintenance of mental and physical health and the early detection of
abnormality. Cases requiring treatment are referred either to the general practitioner or to hospital.
Maternal and Child Health
| (a) In the area including those normally resident elsewhere | (b) Resident in the area including those born elsewhere, i.e. adjusted by inward and outward transfers | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Live | 2965 (3022) | Live | 2363 (2380) |
| Still | 25 ( 19) | Still | 19 ( 13) |
| TOTAL | 2990 (3041) | TOTAL | 2382 (2393) |
| Births in hospital | 2151 (2127) | ||
| Births at home | 231 ( 266) | ||
The number of home confinements continue to decrease but the work of the midwives
has in fact increased since they delivered 65 (26) cases in hospital and provided additional ante-natal
and post-natal services for hospital booked cases.
Prematurity
Full schedule showing statistics will be seen in the Appendix to this report.
The following table shows the size of the problem with regard to the serious loss of infant lives associated with prematurity and during the first month of Iife:-
| Total | Non-Premature | Premature | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 1969 | 1970 | 1969 | 1970 | 1969 | |
| Live Births | 2363 | 2380 | 2229 | 2284 | 134 | 96 |
| Deaths among live births in the first month of life | 21 | 25 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 15 |
| Still births | 19 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 8 |
The Department of Health and Social Security's definition of a premature birth is one when the
infant at birth weighs 5y2lbs. or less.
Congenital Abnormalities
It is a responsibility of the Medical Officer of Health to submit a confidential report
to the Registrar General on congenital abnormalities detected at or shortly after birth. The following
table shows the total notified to the Registrar General during 1970:-
15