[Report 1954] / Medical Officer of Health, Barnsley County Borough.

  • Barnsley (England : Unitary authority). County Borough Council.
Date:
1954
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1954] / Medical Officer of Health, Barnsley County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/156 (page 7)
    The other social problems which have been mentioned in this series of reports continued to make their presence felt both to the Health Department and to the community at large. There was no lessening in the number of cases where action of one kind or another was necessary to ensure that some old person received adequate and suitable attention. It is fairly certain also that there are many cases of hardship amongst older people which do not come to the notice of the various social agencies. The impression made by the mass of facts accumulated in the course of the year’s work is that these cases are on the increase. This is perhaps only to be expected in view of the rising average age of the population and the differences of conception of social duty towards aged relatives that are becoming evident between the older and younger generations. The general high level of employment and prosperity in the Barnsley area and the nature of the local industries has in the past largely eliminated difficulties which arise in areas where female labour is in great demand. Such circumstances cannot but have a satisfactory effect on family life, and in turn they are likely to have far reaching results in the future. At the same time it would be a great advantage to the Borough if there were to be sufficient light industrial development of the right kind within its boundaries or closely adjacent. This would obviate the necessity for some of the younger women to travel many miles daily to work in factories of the heavy woollen towns of the West Riding, a habit of life which can not be said to be conducive to good health. In other parts of the report mention will be made of work done to assist that small element of the population which is described for want of a better term as “problem families”. Such families place strains and demands on the Health and other Social Services out of all proportion to their numbers. It is to be hoped that improving social conditions, particularly the effects of full employment combined with slum clearance and rehousing, will not be without this effect in this direction. Reference was made in last year’s report to the need for bearing in mind the young person in “digs” when planning the rehousing of the population. Observations made during the year, whilst producing little in the way of concrete facts, suggest that far too little attention has been given to the housing and feeding of the adolescent and young adult who by reason of occupation is forced to live “on his or her own” away from home. Vital Statistics The vital statistics for the County Borough are set out in the following pages with interpretation and comment as has become the custom in this series of reports. The usual comparative tables have been included in the appendix to this part.