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

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Walthamstow 1902

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Walthamstow]

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56
cleansed, and thoroughly aired, and it is satisfactory to note that in no
case has there been a recurrence of a disease after the usual incubatory
period has expired.

Seven thousand six hundred and fifteen articles of bedding, clothing, &c., have been disinfected in the Council's apparatus as follows:—

Beds896
Bolsters748
Pillows1,703
Blankets1,846
Miscellaneous2,422

Removal to Hospital.—The number of cases removed to hospital
has risen from 30 in 1900, to 222 in 1901, to 409 in 1902. Of these,
228 have gone to Chingford, and 146 to Dagenham Small-Pox
Hospital, 21 to the Walthamstow General Hospital, and the remainder,
17, to various London Hospitals.
Factory and Workshop Act.—The number of premises registered
under the Factory and Workshop Act has increased from 216 to 501,
in consequence of the obligation cast upon authorities to communicate
to each other semi-annually the names and addresses of any "Outworkers"
residing in their respective districts. The work of inspection
of these premises is most complicated by the constant changes in the
lists, half of each succeeding list consisting of new names in place of
the old ones who have ceased to be employed. Many of the outworkers
being married women working at home, anxious to add to the
family income, work under fair sanitary conditions, and it is rare to find
any cause for complaint. The various matters dealt with have been
supplied to, and are dealt with in the report of, the Medical Officer of
Health.

The special premises periodically visited, besides Factories and Workshops, include:—

Slaughterhouses12
Dairies, Cowsheds and Milk Sellers99
Fishmongers39
Offensive Trades3

Only minor causes of complaint were discovered in any of these,
which were readily attended to by occupiers when pointed out.
The two premises situate in the Northern Ward, on which pig-keeping
and wash-boiling are carried on, have been under constant supervision.
With a desire to further improving the conditions, I visited another
district where, I had heard, a satisfactory arrangement had been adopted