[Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Royal Tunbridge Wells Borough.

  • Tunbridge Wells (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1948
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Royal Tunbridge Wells Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/46 (page 6)
    BOROUGH OF ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS. Public Health Department, Town Hall, Tunbridge Wells. To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough of Royal Tunbridge Wells. Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the honour to present the Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health for the Borough of Royal Tunbridge Wells. The Report relates to the calendar year 1948, and on the whole, appears to me to disclose a satisfactory position. On the 5th July, 1948, the National Health Service Act came into force which naturally meant many changes in the administration of the Health Services. The Birth Rate (15.38) shows a tendency to fall from the high rates of the immediate post-war years, but this fall has been experienced throughout the country as a whole. I am pleased to be able to record that the Infant Mortality rate, that very sensitive index of social conditions, was only 28.1. On only one occasion previously has a lower rate been recorded, that of 1939, when it reached the very low figure of 21. There are three factors that may influence the falling of the Infant Mortality Rate which is experienced both locally and throughout the country as a whole. Firstly, the general fall in the Birth Rate which began during the last quarter of the nineteenth century ; secondly, the great improvements in environmental hygiene during the same period, and, thirdly, but by no means least important, the work both educational