Report on the sanitary condition of the Borough of Bermondsey for the year 1910.

  • Bermondsey (London, England). Metropolitan Borough.
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Report on the sanitary condition of the Borough of Bermondsey for the year 1910. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    (6) That these beds be contracted for in one of the sanatoria, at a cost of about 30s. per week when occupied and 20s. when not occupied, where suitable cases could receive treatment. (c) The purchase by the Council of three or four shelters which could be given on loan to suitable cases for home treatment. (d) The provision of a few single beds, which could be also given on loan in suitable cases. (e) That arrangements be made for the hire of an extra room in suitable cases, and after report to the Public Health Committee by the Medical Officer as to the suitability of the cases for such assistance. Health Visitor. As the duties outlined in this special report add considerably to the work of the Health Visitor, it will be necessary to consider her duties with a view of appointing some one to assist in carrying out the work. The following table shows the work done by the Health Visitor during- the year ended April 2nd, 1910:- Table II. Whole Borough. Bermondsey Wards. Rotherhithe Wards. St. Olave Wards. 1 2 3 6 1 2 3 St. John St. Olave. St. Thomas. 5 4 Births Notified:- I I I I I I I I I I By Guy's Hospital 3 6 226 5 - 95 1,478 483 345 260 2 36 17 110 78 185 44 26 17 „ Mid wives 893 71 65 111 98 83 5 42 27 1 „ Doctors 886 28 32 96 161 115 179 156 48 1 „ Parents 937 40 69 114 153 118 115 192 69 23 3 1 40 4,194 622 511 581 427 337 386 171 57 24 484 161 Total 433 2,743 643 377 413 208 204 260 53 Births Visited:— I — '! — — H r~ I rn 1 — Primary Visits 288 74 64 138 21 20 37 15 18 4 – Secondary Visits 344 113 68 58 11 – – 11 6 Other Calls and Visits 98 19 16 13 11 6 10 6 – – – 3,185 775 461 484 239 285 80 57 64 162 21 Total Visits Paid 226 331 33 13 4 – – 2 – Insanitary Conditions reported to Medical Officer of Health 4 6 – 2 1 1 Table 11. is compiled from the various reports given to the Committee from time to time, and relates to the 52 weeks ended April 2nd, 1910. From this it will be seen that 4,194 births have been notified in the Borough, and of these only 2,743 have received visits, the secondary visits being 344. As pointed out in all my annual reports, 95 per cent, of the population of this Borough consist of the working class, and there are very few houses where births occur which, in my opinion, should be exempted from visits by the Health Visitor. The number of secondary visits is small, and these for several reasons are quite as important as the primary ones. In addition to the work shown in the table, the Health Visitor has her class for mothers every Tuesday afternoon. She also has various calls and visits to make as the result of complaints of the Care Committees of Schools. There is also a very large number of complaints received about the verminous condition of children attending schools (from November, 1909, to March, 1910, 435), necessitating visits to the homes. Hitherto these have been attended to by the District Inspectors, but Ido not consider it at all suitable work for male inspectors. In such cases it means not only visiting the home, but examining the bedding and the clothing of the inmates, and this can only be done satisfactorily by women inspectors. Taking all these duties and the size of the Borough into consideration, it is absolutely impossible for one Health Visitor to undertake all the work, and the very least I can recommend is the appointment of another. For administrative purposes I therefore recommend : — (a) That the Borough be divided into two parts coterminous with the present districts of the Food Inspectors. (b) That a Health Visitor be appointed for each district. (c) That their duties should be to pay a visit to every house where a birth occurs; to pay secondary visits where necessary; to visit consumptives at such intervals as the Medical Officer may, from his knowledge of the cases, consider necessary, and also follow them up on changes of address; to visit homes where complaints are received as to the verminous condition of inmates, in order to arrange for suitable measures to get rid of the vermin; to visit homes where complaints are made by the School Care Committees, and do such other work as may from time to time be required by the Council. Your obedient servant, R. K. BROWN, M.D., Medical Officer of Health.
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