[Report 1963-1964] / Medical Officer of Health, Solihull County Borough.

  • Solihull (England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1964
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1963-1964] / Medical Officer of Health, Solihull County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/106 page 1
    FROM THE CHIEF PUBLIC HEALTH INSPECTOR j llie work of the Public Health Inspector is of the greatest tlenefit to the community when he makes regular visits to premises ihich are required to maintain standards under public health law. ]he supervision of hygiene in shops, the inspection of sanitary jjccommodation in factories, the regular sampling of water supplies, jce cream and milk, and the frequent visitation of premises where iiood is prepared for sale or service to the public, are important j:(xamples of cases where good practice can easily deteriorate and tqscome aesthetically undesi rable and sometimes dangerous. In the {ase of food premises, iu xs from the formation of unclean habits j-ji connection with the handling of food and drink that infections l;m be conveyed from the handler to the consumer, llie larger the wount handled the greater the potential danger of passing on f'-;ingerous germs in greater quantities with consequent risk of totbreaks of infectious illness. Judged in this light, the ptcreased number of visits during the year to food premises is cjstified and in line with modern thought on the subject of food /in trol. fH In the pursuit of good sanitation, which is defined as the ^ience concerned with securing healthful conditions of living, Me maintenance of dwelling houses must be important, and it is 1 if alteresting to note that since the passing of the Rent Act, 195'i, i{Je amount of work this Department is required to do in connection ) th housing repairs has declined. This is probably because the 4j|:rease of rent permitted by the Act had made funds available to j idlords which they are able to spend on repairs. The standards .i4maintenance of houses and their general appearance have Slloubtedly improved since the passing of the Act. With regard to dwelling houses, the conversion of fireplaces ller the Clean Air Act, 1957, in pursuit of the Council's programme )ljSmoke Control areas, is likely to lead to improved heating editions in houses within future areas. Towards the year’s close, itiiircular was received from the Ministry of Housing and Local i.rernment authorising the payment of grants on underdraught fires, Kjirage heaters and gas fires and in certain cases towards the cost ^central heating installations. This is largely due to the Gas ’;rd's policy of producing gas from fuels other tha.. coal so that irijs coke is produced, and from the Electricity Board’s difficulties
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3