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Public Health Department,
Town Hall, Wallington.
To the Worshipful the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough
of Bedding ton and Wallington.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present my annual report for 1952. The report is
drawn up in accordance with the suggestions made by the Minister of
Health in his Circulars 2/53 and 42/51. The vital statistics are based on
information supplied by the Registrar-General.
The presentation follows that adopted for the previous three years,
and those services which are under the control of the Surrey County
Council, the Local Health Authority under the National Health Service
Act, 1946, are reported upon in a brief statistical statement appended to
the report. The services dealt with in this addendum are:
Care of Mothers and Young Children;
Health Visiting;
Home Nursing;
Vaccination and Immunisation;
Ambulance Services;
Prevention of Illness, Care and After-care; and
Domestic Help.
The Registrar-General's estimate of the population of Beddington and '
Wallington at mid-year 1952 is 32,510, and this figure is used in the compilation
of the vital statistics. This represents a decrease of 140 on the
previous year's estimate, and is 241 less than the figure obtained at the
census of population taken in 1951, which was 32,751.
The birth rate per 1,000 total population again shows a decrease at
10.74 in 1952, as compared with 11.17 in 1951. This rate is below that
for England and Wales, which is 15.3.
The stillbirth rate of 0.12 per 1,000 total population shows a marked
decrease on the figure of 0.37 which was recorded in 1951. The corresponding
figure for England and Wales is 0.35. Expressed as a rate per
1,000 total births, the stillbirth rate is 10-99. In 1951, this rate was 30.93.
The number of children stillborn in the district was 4, out of a total of
364 births. This figure is commendably low, but stillbirths will continue
to occur, as in many cases they are inevitable, and they take place in spite
of everything the maternity and ante-natal services can do.
The death rate from all causes per 1,000 total population is 11.01,
compared with 10.47 in 1951 and 11.3 for England and Wales. Of the
389 deaths, diseases of the heart and circulatory system accounted for 137
(35.22 per cent. of total deaths), cancer 69 (17.74 per cent. of total deaths),
and tuberculosis 7 (1.80 per cent. of total deaths).
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