Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Beddington and Wallington]
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Public Health Department,
Town Hall, Wallington.
To the Worshipful the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough
of Beddington and Wallington.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present my annual report for 1953. The report is
drawn up in accordance with the suggestions made by the Minister of
Health in his Circulars 1/54 and 42/51. The vital statistics are based on
information supplied by the Registrar-General.
The presentation follows that adopted for the previous four 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 1953 is 32,510, and this figure is used in the
compilation of the vital statistics. It will be noted that the population is
exactly the same as that estimated by the Registrar-General for mid-year
1952. The census of population taken in 1951 was 32,751.
The birth rate per 1,000 total population shows an increase at 12.65
in 1953, as compared with 10.74 in 1952. This rate is below that for
England and Wales, which is 15.5.
The stillbirth rate of 0.12 per 1,000 total population is similar to that
recorded in 1952. The corresponding figure for England and Wales is
0.35. Expressed as a rate per 1,000 total births, the stillbirth rate is 10-20.
In 1952 this rate was 10.99.
The number of children stillborn in the district was 4, out of a total
of 392 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.
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