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3
Borough of Mitcham
HEALTH REPORT FOR 1956
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have much pleasure in submitting my annual report for the
year 1956.
I should first of all like to report a rather important matter
concerning the Public Health Department and staffing that was agreeable
to everyone.
The Surrey County Council and the three district councils of
the North Eastern Division agreed that each district should once
again in its own right be a divisional area. As a result the posts of
Medical Officer of Health and Divisional Medical Officer of Mitcham
were combined, which brought all the medical services under one
person at one centre, namely Mitcham Court.
This change in policy anticipated the trend laid down in the
White Paper on Local Government Organisation which envisaged
such control for areas with a population of over 60,000.
The posts of Chief Clerk in the Public Health Department and
Administrative Assistant to the North Eastern Division, Mitcham
area, were also combined and Mr. F. H. White was appointed, his
duties being in the proportion of 25 per cent. Mitcham Borough
Council and 75 per cent. Surrey County Council.
The general health in the Borough has been good, and there
was no special outbreak of infectious disease.
The notifications of infectious diseases fell from the rather high
figure of 1,335 for 1955 to 322, mainly due to the decline in measles,
which tends to have a two yearly cycle.
There were no cases of diphtheria, making seven years free of
cases.