A report of the general meeting, held at the Freemason's Tavern, ... November 29th, 1870 / Poor-Law Medical Officers' Association.

Date:
[1870]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A report of the general meeting, held at the Freemason's Tavern, ... November 29th, 1870 / Poor-Law Medical Officers' Association. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    Poor-Law Medical Service as being the most suitable to the carrying out of Registration of Disease, and considered that the appellation Health Officer would be far superior to the term parish surgeon. He also considered their position and remuneration would be improved by the additional duties proposed to be im- posed on them. Mr. Barnes then alluded to the marked im- provement which had taken place in his time in the Poor-Law Medical Service, especially as regards salaries ; and instanced a case in point where the medical officer received £40 a year for his Poor-Law appointment 16 yeafs ago, the remuneration now given for the same district amounting to nearly £200. Dr. Bakclay seconded the motion, and in doing so said that he should heartily welcome the addition of Poor-Law Medical Officers to the Sanitary Staff. This view having been sup- ported by Dr. Aldis, the resolution was put to the meeting and carried. Dr. DuDFiELD expressed his entire approval of the plan of making the District Poor-Law Medical Officers the Deputy Medical Officers of Health in their several districts, having witnessed the great benefits derivable from the plan during the cholera year 1866, when it was carried into practice in the parish wherein he resided, Kensington. He gave statistics showing a large diminution in that year in the amount of zymotic disease, as revealed by the weekly returns of deaths by the Registrar General, as compared with previous years; and sub- sequent years also, he might add, when, all fear of cholera having subsided, the sanitary arrangements fell into the usual dull routine. He appreciated, fully, the advantages of an efficient registration of disease ; and valuing highly the importance of early information in the case of zymotic disease, he suggested that an effort should be made to obtain daily returns of new cases of small-pox, scarlet fever, and contagious fevers. He referred to some resolutions having this object in view which the Kensington vestry had lately adopted, and which were likely to become the basis of their future system of sanitary work. Poor-Law Medical Officers were deeply interested in keeping under contagious diseases, thereby reducing their work; and he was sure they would heartily co-operate with Medical Officers of Health in so good a work. Alluding to a remark of a pre- vious speaker, that Sanitary Inspectors were so described, Ulcus non lucendo, he remarked that these officers were just what (for the most part) the Medical Officers of Health made them. If the Chief was earnest in his work, he would make his subordinates do their duty. He had listened with satisfac- tion to the able and interesting remarks of the mover of the first resolution (Mr. Benson Baker); and, quite agreeing with all he had stated, he pointed out that the Sanitary Act of 1866 really provided nearly all the powers he (Mr. Baker) desired, but had been allowed in many districts to remain almost a dead letter. Dr. Lyon Playfair said he thought it should be understood that Dr. Brett only made a good-natured joke when he pointed out
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