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15
Tuberculosis who were infectious and living under such circumstances
as to cause risk of infection to other persons. The experience of
this Borough has been the same as that of Birmingham and of other
districts where compulsory powers of removal have been obtained.
It has been passible to effect considerable improvement in the home
surroundings by reference to the powers of removal contained in that
Act so that legal proceedings and removal to hospital have not been
necessary. Three cases received residential institutional treatment
during the year.
Sanitary inspection.
During the past year over 6,000 Intimation Notices and over
1,600 Statutory Notices have been served, and the detailed work of
sanitary inspection has been carefully and conscientiously carried
out. The work of sanitary inspection can only be realised by carefully
considering the tables of inspection of food premises, food
seizure, drain testing, sampling, notices served, nuisances abated, and
other details of the work of the Department set out in the body of
this Report. Although the work carried out by the Sanitary
Inspectors is of the utmost value in maintaining housing property in
a comparatively decent condition and in checking the formation of
slum areas, it is not possible to prevent overcrowding, so that the
situation is becoming steadily more difficult in this respect.
The extent to which the careful work of the Sanitary Inspectors
and staff of the Department neutralises the ill-effects of overcrowding
is not realised: thus, during 1926 no fewer than 155 premises have
been cleared of rats, 646 rooms sprayed or otherwise cleared of
vermin, 2,245 rooms disinfected, 37,580 articles disinfected and 3,633
adults and children cleansed from parasitic infection, by the staff of
the Public Health Department. Systematic house to house inspection
under the regulations governing this form of inspection enables careful
records to be kept of the housing conditions in each part of the
Borough. The results of these inspections are entered up on the card
index system, so that the conditions found on inspection and reinspection
of any particular street and any house in that street can
easily be ascertained.