[Report 1949] / Medical Officer of Health, Leicestershire / County of Leicester County Council.

  • Leicestershire (England). County Council.
Date:
1949
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1949] / Medical Officer of Health, Leicestershire / County of Leicester County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    post in the organisation set up by the Ministry to carry out the transferred functions, and although it is satisfactory to know that his energy and skill will still be applied to this important work, the Council lost by his resignation the services of an officer of exceptional ability, whose reputa¬ tion extended far beyond the boundaries of the County. One of the Assistant County Sanitary Officers was seconded to the Ministry, and the establishment of the County Sanitary Officer's Section was reduced to meet the new situation. The new authorities set up by the National Health Service Act— Regional Hospital Boards, Hospital Management Committees, Executive Councils—were settling down to their tasks during the year, and many matters arose which demanded constant discussions between officers of those authorities and of this Department. There are many instances where the responsibilities of those authorities overlap with those of the County Council, and close liaison and genuine co-operation is an absolute necessity. The general statistics for the year are set out in the beginning of the report and show an increase in population and a slightly decreased infant mortality and maternal mortality. I would call attention to the interest and importance of the statistics in this report and of the graphs which in some cases accompany them. Wherever possible, comparisons are made with previous years and with national figures so that trends of change can be shown. It is perhaps advisable to point out that the amount of space devoted to any one service is not necessarily an indication of the importance of that service. Where no great change has taken place, comment is restricted to a minimum and most space is given to sections of the Department’s work where development is taking place: nevertheless, this report gives an accurate picture of the work of the Department during the year. The arrangement of the various items has been re-designed to provide all the information required in a convenient form, and a full table of contents should facilitate ease of reference. I think that the record shown can reasonably be claimed as one of steady progress. At the same time it would be foolish to overlook the fact that at this moment there is a feeling of uneasiness and frustration in the Public Health Service generally. The reasons for this are not hard to seek. Recent developments have taken away from the field of activity of the Service much which was of importance and interest. There is a very definite tendency to keep curative and preventive medicine entirely