[Report 1963] / Medical Officer of Health, West Bromwich County Borough.
- West Bromwich (England). County Borough Council.
- Date:
- 1963
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1963] / Medical Officer of Health, West Bromwich County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.
103/154 page 91
![ANNUAL REPORT of the CHIEF PUBLIC HEALTH INSPECTOR, 1963. To the Chairman and Members of the HYGIENE AND CLEANSING COMMITTEE Mr. Chairman, Lady and Gentlemen, Staff Vacancies The public health inspector, whom many people, especially those who need him most often still call the sanitary man” is being recruited and trained in diminishing numbers whilst the duties of his office are increasing, Indeed, new legislation on housing, conditions in offices and shops, clean air and food standards comes faster than the staff to carry it out. The worst shortages are in the industrial towns, in the places where more men are most needed. In 1963 changes and shortage of staff in West Bromwich has been particularly acute and this is the reason for the reduction of over 2,600 in the total number of inspections or more than 12% compared with 1962. The complete cessation of. food quality control by sampling and analysis was necessary in the final quarter of the year. But for the appointment of two additional technical assistants to help a senior district inspector with some of the routine duties the work of the department would have been even more deficient and inadequate. It is unlikely that the acute shortages in the industrial areas will decline or be overcome until the financial and other rewards for accepting increased responsibility, loss of amenity and the stresses and strains of town life compared with urban and rural districts is not only attractive but irresistible. The committee has not been slow to recognise the staffing difficulties of the department and since 1955 there have been three pupil public health inspectors which is the maximum allowed by the Examination Board in relation to the number of qualified inspectors employed. A pupil cleansing officer was appointed in I960 and technical assistants for meat inspection, domestic smoke control, factory sanitation and general work in 1961. This seems a practical end effective way of dealing with the acute shortage of experienced inspectors but it does add to the responsibilities of those in senior positions. A proportion of nine qualified inspectors to eight pupils and technical assistants indicates that this method of dealing with the situation has been carried to the limit. 9]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30260061_0103.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
