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
Heston and Isleworth 1905
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Heston and Isleworth]
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where a defect was discovered it was not of a serious nature, generally being
a faulty fitting in the ventilating pipe or something similar, but the large
number of defects found proves the value of the system started last year by
which the drains of all new buildings are tested before the houses are allowed
to be inhabited.
The following Table gives a summary of the details referred to above:—
| Cause of test. | Number. | No. houses. | No. found defective. | No. found intact. | No. re-tested. | No. of cases in which defects were found at origin of test. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Complaint | 21 | 58 | 48 | 10 | 142 | - |
| Scarlet Fever | 38 | 85 | 45 | 40 | 120 | 18 |
| Diphtheria | 46 | 130 | 71 | 59 | 196 | 25 |
| Enteric | 2 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 32 | 1 |
| New Buildings | - | 504 | 390 | 114 | 390 | - |
| Total | 107 | 788 | 559 | 229 | 880 | 44 |
Factories and Workshops.
This year a new set of Tables has been drawn up by the Home Office,
showing the work carried out in connection with factories, workshops, laundaries,
etc., and here inclnded. It will be seen that the number of these places on
the Register at the end of the year has increased from 203 in 1904, to 255.
A number of minor contraventions of the Factory Acts were found from time
to time on inspection, but in no case was it found necessary to institute
legal proceedings to get them remedied.