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8
operation between the Division and the Public Health Department,
although naturally there were considerable heartburnings about
the loss of services which had been built up by the Borough, was
not only due to Sir Allen Daley and County Hall staff but also to
the fact that the principal officers at Division—Dr. King and Mr.
Minter—had come from the Public Health Departments of Stoke
Newington and Hackney respectively and were familiar with the
work of the Public Health Department in both boroughs.
My thanks are also due to all members of the Council and
particularly to the Chairmen and members of the Public Health
Committee, without whose unfailing sympathetic consideration
and ever-ready assistance many of the improvements shown over
the past 30 years would not have been possible. The Chairman of
the Public Health Committee, Councillor Mrs. F. H. Du Vergier,
J.P., has had a particularly onerous task during the past year and
during the many years she has been Chairman since the war and
previously. The Public Health Department is indeed indebted to
Councillor Mrs. Du Vergier for many years of sympathetic, untiring
work for the department and citizens of the Borough. The
residents of Hackney have, I feel, been fortunate in having had
during these years Councils who, while justifiably careful in the
expenditure of public monies, have never hesitated to vote money
for any project which they were satisfied was necessary for the wellbeing
of the people they represented.
I would also like to thank all past and present members of the
staff of the Public Health Department with whom I have worked
for the conscientious and efficient manner in which they have at
all times performed their duties.
In conclusion I would like to say how pleased I am to have
been associated with the public health activities in this Borough
during the past 30 years; years which were truly momentous and
which, I am certain, will when viewed in retrospect be said to have
witnessed a real advance in the field of public health.
When one considers the difficulties which have been encountered
as a result of the last war and the two post-war periods the progress
made in Hackney has been remarkable. Primarily, the credit for
what has been accomplished must go to the Councils who have
always taken advantage of any powers given to them to improve
the health and well-being of the citizens of Hackney, but in the
final analysis it will be found that the staff of the Public Health
Department, upon whom have fallen the responsibilities for carrying
into effect the policies and wishes of the Council, have also
played an essential part.
G. H. DART,
Medical Officer of Health.