View report page

I have set out in some detail the statistics regarding the
death rates; for the balance sheet, as it were, of the health and
well-being of the inhabitants of the Borough is reflected to a big
degree in this rate.
The housing conditions are steadily improving, chiefly through
the carrying out of work under the Housing Act, 1930.
A large number of houses have had extensive repairs under
Section 17 of this Act. In the old Canning Town district, an
area comprising nearly a hundred houses has been scheduled for
clearance under the Act, and the scheme for the demolition of
these houses is now awaiting the approval or otherwise of the
Ministry of Health.
A number of houses have been demolished under Section 19,
but lack of accommodation for the tenants who would be displaced
acts as a severe deterrent in regard to more extensive use of this
Section. Other areas which have been scheduled are awaiting
further consideration and the necessary procedure.
The construction of the new Dock Road has been the means
by which a big number of undesirable dwelling houses have had
to be demolished, and has fulfilled the function of a clearance
area in itself. The dispossessed tenants have been re-housed
mostly on the Council's new housing estate at Prince Regent Lane.
Certain dilapidated properties have also been demolished in
connection with the work of widening the High Street, Stratford.
Overcrowding with its associated evils still prevails, in some
instances so bad that any attempt to enforce the elementary laws
of hygiene or . even of common decency proves futile.
A psychological clinic for dealing with adult and juvenile
cases of early mental aberration and allied conditions was established
by the Council at the Children's Hospital, Balaam Street,
during the year.
The Poor Law Institutions still present overcrowding. At
the time of writing, however, the Harold Wood Hospital for
Children is being taken over from the Hospitals Committeee by
the Public Assistance Committee in order to accommodate cases
of chronic sick adults, and this will relieve the overcrowding to
a considerable extent.
In July, Mr. Plackett, one of your Sanitary Inspectors, was
obliged, after many years of good service, to resign owing to
ill-health, and for the same reason in December, Dr. Muir
resigned after twenty years as Medical Superintendent of Whipps
Cross Hospital, during which time he did splendid work.
Specialists have been appointed to the hospitals where cases
of acute sick are being treated, and I am convinced that there
are, in the wards of the institutions for chronic and so-called
incurable sick cases, a number of patients who would benefit
greatly and possibly be restored to normal health if the advice
of such specialists could also be made available for them.
6