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24
SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AREA.
Sanitary Inspection.
The sanitary inspection of the borough is one of the most
important functions of the Public Health Department, and, therefore,
one for which it is essential that adequate staff be available.
Unfortunately, for some time now the reverse has been the
case, for the number of inspectors available for this work has fallen
far below the danger level and the present situation is such as to
cause great anxiety. Although several inspectors left the service
of the Council during 1951, the efforts of the remaining inspectors
enabled the situation to be kept under control, but not only has it
been found impossible to replace the inspectors lost, but also the
first months of 1952 have seen still more inspectors leaving to
take up appointments elsewhere. As a result there has during the
recent months been the slowing down of this work which was
inevitable since the number of inspectors is so many below establishment.
For instance, the three housing sanitary inspectors trained by
the former Senior Housing Inspector, Mr. Long, to replace those we
lost during the early post-war period have obtained appointments
with other authorities, leaving the present Senior Housing Inspector,
Mr. Wilson, with no assistants.
A number of the district inspectors have for some time been
endeavouring to cover more than one district, but the position is
now so serious that one of the Food Inspectors has been placed on
district work—a truly retrograde step at a time when it is necessary
to give so much attention to food problems.
Other inspectors are candidates for posts elsewhere and the
next specialist inspector who will be asked to take over district
work will be the Factory Inspector, again a most retrograde step
particularly undesirable at the present time.
If the shortage of inspectors continues other specialist inspections,
such as outworkers, must cease, and even then it will be
possible to deal only with urgent matters such as leaky roofs,
defective drains, rats, and infectious disease—as was the case in the
immediate post-war years and which has been reported in previous
annual reports and also in memoranda to the Establishment
Committee.
It will be recalled that at that time the number of sanitary
inspectors fell to such an extent that it was necessary to send out the