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
West Ham 1951
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for West Ham]
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SECTION 27 - AMBULANCE SERVICE.
There has been no change in the arrangements for the Service, Ambulances are based
at fire stations and the transport depot and are under the operational control of the Chief
Officer of the Fire Brigade. Ambulance cars are provided by the Borough Engineer from the
Council's fleet of passenger cars and are controlled operationally by the Ambulance Officer.
One of the ambulance cars Is a multi-seater vehicle which is used mainly for the conveyance
of out-patients to and from the London Hospital.
The deployment of operational vehicles is as follows;-
Ambulances
Stratford Fire Station 1
Plaistow Fire Station 4
Silvertown Fire Station 1
Transport Depot 5
Ambulance Cars
Transport Depot 11
The demands on the ambulance service continued to be heavy but by careful scheduling,
it has been possible to keep the mileage steady.
It is evident that more and more patients are being treated at hospital out-patient
clinics, for it is the conveyance of patients to and from these clinics which makes the
greatest demand on the service. With the co-operation between officers of the hospitals
and the Health Department this work is now running quite smoothly.
The following table shows the work carried out by the service during the years-
| Vehicles used | Number of Journeys. | Number of patients carried. | Number of accidents and other emergency Journeys (included in Column 2) | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambulances | 15,906 | 24,910 | 2,450 | 159,487 |
| Ambulance Cars | 11,466 | 19,881 | - | 126,446 |
| Totals: | 27,372 | 44,791 | 2,450 | 285,933 |
The Council continued to carry out the inter-hospital transfer of patients from
Queen Mary's Hospital, Stratford, to the annexe at Hilllngdon House, Harlow, Essex. These
transfers take place twice weekly. Reciprocal arrangements with neighbouring authorities,
i.e. East Ham County Borough, Essex County Council and London County Council continue to
work satisfactorily.
SECTION 28. PREVENTION OF ILLNESS. CARE AND AFTER CARE.
1. TUBERCULOSIS.
(a) Report on the work of Tuberculosis Visitors. The two Tuberculosis Visitors made
5,188 home visits to tuberculosis patients during the year and assisted the Chest Physician
at 383 clinic sessions. The number of home visits required increased considerably during
the year and it was necessary, as a temporary measure, to allocate one of the Public Health
nurses In the Health Department to this work.
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