London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

View report page

St Giles (Camberwell) 1892

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Camberwell]

This page requires JavaScript

288
occasions during the last 20 or 30 years) cholera was
successfully kept at bay. No doubt a few cases occurred
at our sea-port towns, and one or two in London—at any
rate I can speak of one fatal case which I saw at St.
Thomas's Hospital, in the person of a bargee employed on
the Thames. These precautions will doubtless be continued.
But under any circumstances, I confess I do not fear the
occurrence of a serious epidemic in London. I add in the
appendix a brief report which I presented to the Vestry
on the subject.
Although, as I have remarked earlier in this report,
the amount of work done during the year has been
creditable to the Parish, I have to acknowledge that it
has not come up to my hopes or anticipations; and that,
still, especially house to house inspections have shown
little advancement. This, however, is easily explained.
In the first place, the amount of work caused by the
increase of notifications during the year has largely
occupied the time of the Inspectors to the disadvantage
of other duties. In the second place, owing to various circumstances
which I need not discuss, the work of the
so-called Assistant Inspectors was largely merged in that
of the Inspectors, and practically they were scarcely allowed
to perform independent duties as I had intended and
hoped would have been the case. Thirdly, the new
Inspectors working hard at their duties and acquiring a good
knowledge of them, in several instances applied for and
obtained higher appointments elsewhere. Thus, Brown
left us on the 6th February, 1892, Lawrence on the 4th
June, 1892, and Toms on the 10th December, 1892; who
having shown a special aptitude and liking for clerical work,