[Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Blandford R.D.C.
- Blandford Forum (England). Rural District Council.
- Date:
- 1948
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Blandford R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![' ■ % ’ EL,«]gpm_ _ RgRAL DISTRICT COUrTGII,. . Report of the Medical Officer of Health for the Year 1948. . The Minister of Health has again requested that this sh^l be an abbreviated report as free as possible from statistical details. He particularly asks for information aboutj- Action taken by the Council under section 47 of the National Assistance Act to deal with aged or infirm people living under insanitary conditions. Water Supplies, Sewerage.. Control of Meat and Foods, Outbreaks of Food Poisoning.. General Health Statistics.,^ There was rib unusual prevalence of aiv/ epidemic disease during the year. The Birth Rate was 18.8 per thousand of population, a figure consider- -ably below the 1947 rate of 24.5 but still higher than the National rate for 1948, vix, 17,9.. The Death Rate was 11.8 con^Jared with 12.3 for 1947 and the Nat- ional Rate for 1948 of 10,8.. Diphtheria. . No case was notified during 1948.. It has been ray custom in these Annual Reports to give figures showing the progress of immunisation and the percentage of the child population, over and under the age of five, protected thereby.. The collec- tion of these details and the preparation of statistics has since July 5th, 1948 become the duty of the County Council as Local Health Authority under the National Health Service Act., The figures for 1948 are not yet available.. Aged or Infirm persons. . ' This Council has so far had no occasion to use its compulsory powers under Section 47 of the new public Assistance Act in order to get an aged or infirm person living in insanitary conditions removed to an Institution, . The process of bringing this compulsion to bear is cumbrous and slow,. Moreover it is plainly not intended to be used if the person concer- ned can be persuaded to move of his own free will. .This is by no means always the case,but his consent can often be gained by tactful persuasion,. Porinerly such persuasion vjas usually effected by the Relieving Officer,but the new Act has abolished this Officer and appointed no one with local con- tacts or knowledge to fill his place,. As a result, whether it was the intention of the Act or not,this function of the Relieving Officer has now devolved upon the Medical Officer of Health. The latter le brought into the picture by subsection (2) of Section 47, Y/hich requires that the Local Authority must base its proce- dure upon a certificate from the Medical Officer of Health.. He in fact becomes the pivotal person on v^hom all action depends, and it is to him that application is made when the friends, relations or Medical Attendant of an infirm person think that removal to an Institution is necessary. . The Medical Officer's certificate must, in the words of the Act, be given only after ’’thorough enquiry and consideration,, It is not required if the infirm person consents to removal,but such consent is not easy to obtain and often requires a good deal of persuasion. . The Medical Officer naturally wishes to avoid compulsion and miust try every possible means of inducing the person to go voluntarily. .These efforts and the thorough enquiry enjoined by the Act miay take much time and often entail many visits and interviews or correspondence with relatives and neighbours,. These cases are becoming frequent and the duty of dealing with them is no light task,, A Medical man or woman is perhaps a very suitable person to perform it, but the Act does not appear to have intended that the mantle of the defunct Relieving Officer should descend upon the Medical Officer of Health. . A special difficulty in dealing with such cases is the shortage Institutional beds,The delay in getting accornmodation for these old and infirm people has become much worse since the Act came into force. It is sometimes a matter of months before admission can be arranged. . Water Supplies. , The greater part of the District is still dependent on wells. Most](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2893412x_0001.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
