[Report 1947] / Medical Officer of Health, Nottinghamshire County Council.

  • Nottinghamshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1947
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1947] / Medical Officer of Health, Nottinghamshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    14/90 (page 12)
    The story is a long one and the evolution was gradual, with a marked acceleration during the past twenty years. To this regime belongs the credit for the vast improvement in environmental circumstances, sanitation, water su])plies, housing ; for the greatly reduced mortalities, especially those for infants, for the child-bearing woman and the sufferer from Tuberculosis : for the enlightenment of the public in the ways of healthy living, in the means of rearing healthy children, and in a new humanity which sought to give every life a value and a chance to attain better things. In Nottinghamshire, in the year 1900, 160 infants under twelve months old died out of every 1,000 infants born ; in 1910—110 ; in 1920—85; in 1930—62; in 1940—58; and in 1947—41. Let it never be forgotten how much had been accomplished by the old regime ; a medley of Local Authorities, great and small, together with nation-wide voluntary endeavour ; an ill-co-ordinated mechanism with many independent controls which yet contrived to build up a pool of service which made signal contributions to the national welfare. To them we owe also our Hospital Services, general and special, our services for the care of particular groups such as blind persons, mental defectives, and the crippled. There remained obvious need for further progress, for closer in¬ tegration, for greatei accessibility of service. The task, whoever undertakes it, is infinite and always will be. In the new regime, still compartmented and uncohesive except through the cement of good will and of single aim, the old Health Authorities have yet a significant part to play : the larger Authorities in the “ personal ” services and the smaller Authorities in the all- important “ environmental ” services. Voluntary effort also has still a role. It is natural to regret the loss of our direct interest in hospital provision, the loss of some fine hospital buildings which we have planned and seen completed, but we know that the principle of wide- area hospital administration is sound, provided the area is not so large as to be unwieldy and incapable of comprehension, planning and administration from the centre without excessive delegation and loss of the “ regional ” concept. Already, as I write, many representatives of Local Authority and of Voluntary organisations, experienced in hospital administration, have accepted the opportunity to make their contribution to the new Hospital Service and to its future co-ordination in a comprehensive Service.