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
Kensington 1927
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington]
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54
(d) That during such shortage of beds applications for admission from general practitioners
should be referred to the Medical Officers of Health for recommendation.
(e) That the selection of cases for admission should be based on type of home rather than
type of case.
(/) That cases of measles in tenement houses where there are no facilities for home nursing
or in houses connected with shops or where a member of the family is employed
in the handling of food, should be given priority over cases of scarlet fever in single
family houses where isolation is possible.
The Metropolitan Asylums Board adopted the scheme and last year the approval of the
Ministry of Health was obtained, but as there was no measles epidemic during the year, it was
not necessary to put it into operation.
The Women Health Officers visited 75 cases and 39 were admitted to hospital. There was
only one death from measles in Kensington in 1927.
Whooping Cough.—There were fourteen deaths from this cause. The deaths in the three preceding
years were 20, 18 and 8. The Women Health Officers paid 57 visits to cases of this disease
during the year. The number of cases admitted to hospital was 38.
TUBERCULOSIS.
During the year 178 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis and 74 cases of non-pulmonary
tuberculosis were notified.
The following table shows the number or cases of both forms of the disease notified in the Borough and the several Wards therein during each year since 1919.
| District. | Years. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1919. | 1920. | 1921. | 1922. | 1923. | 1924. | 1925. | 1926. | 1927. | |
| The Borough | 582 | 407 | 374 | 339 | 403 | 314 | 292 | 317 | 252 |
| North Kensington | 445 | 294 | 272 | 233 | 267 | 228 | 207 | 227 | 166 |
| South Kensington | 137 | 113 | 102 | 106 | 136 | 86 | 85 | 90 | 86 |
| Wards. | |||||||||
| St. Charles | 104 | 70 | 66 | 48 | 61 | 45 | 52 | 50 | 39 |
| Golborne | 150 | 88 | 89 | 80 | 86 | 65 | 56 | 69 | 53 |
| Norland | 124 | 93 | 80 | 76 | 85 | 75 | 67 | 59 | 44 |
| Pembridge | 67 | 43 | 37 | 29 | 35 | 43 | 32 | 49 | 30 |
| Holland | 36 | 36 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 30 | 27 | 20 | 11 |
| Earl's Court | 21 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 28 | 13 | 18 | 25 | 25 |
| Queen's Gate | 16 | 15 | 15 | 20 | 22 | 17 | 13 | 15 | 10 |
| Redcliffe | 33 | 25 | 19 | 23 | 41 | 15 | 18 | 22 | 25 |
| Brompton | 21 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 19 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 15 |
From the above table it will be seen that the steady decrease in the number of cases of tuberculosis
notified, which has been commented upon in previous Reports, continued during 1927.
In the year under review the number of cases reported was the smallest since compulsory notification
was first established in 1912. The gratifying decrease in the incidence of the disease is
particularly noticeable in the St. Charles, Golborne and Norland Wards; this is not surprising in
view of the very large amount of time and attention devoted to the welfare of the people in these
three Wards, both by the Borough Council and other bodies interested in the health of the people.
Medical practitioners are reporting cases at an earlier stage of the disease than was the case
several years ago, but the following figures show that some improvement in this respect is still
desirable in order that the Council's machinery for the prevention of the spread of infection may
be put into operation at the earliest possible moment:—
(1) No. of deaths in Kensington from all forms of tuberculosis in 1927 140
(2) No. of persons dying unnotified or notified at death 38
(3) No. notified within one month before death 18
(4) No. notified within three months before death (excluding those under heading 3) 19
(5) No. notified within six months before death (excluding those under headings 3
and 4) 13