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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No. of rooms occupied by family
| Description of Work. | Health Officers. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1. | No. 2. | No. 3. | No. 4. | No. 5 | No, 6. | No. 7. | Total. | |
| Visits to Infants under the age of 21 days. (First Visits) | 17 | 277 | 323 | 281 | 230 | 332 | 399 | 1,859 |
| Re-visits to Infants under the age of 12 months | 127 | 667 | 606 | 813 | 907 | 746 | 978 | 4,844 |
| Visits to Children between I and 5 years | 283 | 1,600 | 967 | 1,492 | 1,164 | 1,088 | 810 | 7,404 |
| Still-birth Enquiries | 3 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 23 |
| Visits to Ophthalmia Cases | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 26 |
| Return Visits to Ophthalmia Cases | 8 | 2 | — | 7 | 9 | 5 | 28 | 59 |
| Visits to Measles Cases | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 4 | 36 | 75 |
| Visits to Whooping Cough Cases | 1 | 11 | 20 | 14 | 1 | — | 10 | 57 |
| Visits to Puerperal Fever Cases | 3 | — | 5 | — | 3 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Visits to Puerperal Pyrexia Cases | 6 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 55 |
| Visits to Enteritis Cases | 2 | 7 | 7 | 30 | — | 5 | 9 | 60 |
| Infantile Death Enquiries | 13 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 20 | 39 | 134 |
| Investigations re Milk Applications | 24 | 51 | 77 | 57 | 7 | 106 | 141 | 463 |
| Ante-natal Visits | 49 | 112 | 74 | 22 | 55 | 96 | 138 | 546 |
| Half-days at Welfare Centres | 22 | 100 | 152 | 143 | 90 | 116 | 148 | 771 |
| Special Visits | 934 | 154 | 313 | 159 | 228 | 267 | 360 | 2,415 |
The visiting in connection with tuberculosis and factories and workshops is dealt with in the
sections of this report dealing with those subjects, and a complete record of the work performed
by eacii Woman Health Officer during the year appears in Table 5 of the Appendix.
INFANT WELFARE CENTRES.
There are seven Voluntary Infant Welfare Centres in Kensington, and the Borough has been
mapped out into a similar number of areas with one Centre in each, an attempt having been made
to place each home in the area of that Centre most accessible to the mother.
These institutions are mainly supported by (1) voluntary contributions, (2) grants from the
Ministry of Health, and (3) grants from the Borough Council. The medical and nursing staffs
are engaged by the Voluntary Committees. A Woman Health Officer is attached to each Welfare
Centre and, except at Campden Hill, has an office on the premises where she keeps her records
and in which she arranges home visiting work in consultation with the staff and the Voluntary
Committee.
The principal duties of a Welfare Centre are those of an educational institution—providing
advice and teaching for the mothers in the care and management of little children with a view to
maintaining them in good health.
The work done at the Infant Welfare Centres during the year 1927 is shown in the following
table:—