[Report 1908] / Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow.

  • Glasgow (Scotland)
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1908] / Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    30/224 (page 20)
    DEATHS OE NON-RESIDENTS. In the Report for 1907 some of the difficulties arising in connection with the transfer of non-local deaths were referred to. The objections then raised still exist, and a considerable amount of trouble has arisen owing to the difficulty of obtaining full information from outside authorities, and on one or two occasions it has been needful to refer the matter to the Local Govern- ment Board for a decision. One of the main difficulties has been the obtaining of a period of residence at the place of death. In a City this difficulty is reduced to a minimum, as, if the information is not available by telephone, it can usually be obtained by the district Inspector. In country districts, however, to obtain the information may entail long journeys, but unless the transfers contain this information they will obviously be of little value. In the Table which follows, it will be observed that, of the 437 deaths accepted during the past year as belonging to Glasgow, 239 have no period of residence stated. In addition to the other Tables dealing with transfer deaths, it was proposed to insert one showing the causes of death and the period the persons had been resident outwith the City, but as more than 50 per cent, lacked this information, the Table had to be abandoned. Here the custom for many years has been to include deaths occurring after three months, whether among the general population or in Institutions. While this arrangement is also open to objection, it had the advantage of being definite, and it has been thought well to adhere to the practice with regard to all save extra-mural deaths in Institutions, the conditions in regard to the latter having been prescribed by the Local Government Board