[Report 1968] / Medical Officer of Health, Eastbourne County Borough.

  • Eastbourne (England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1968
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1968] / Medical Officer of Health, Eastbourne County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/126 (page 5)
    ANNUAL REPORT Health and Welfare Services Department Avenue House Eastbourne October, ig6g To His Worship the Mayor and to the Aldermen and Councillors of the County Borough of Eastbourne Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the honour to present this the seventy-seventh Annual Report of the state of the Public Health and the work of the Department. The year 1968 was one of continued progress but was not marked by any major event, change or substantial completed project. Never- theless demands upon the administrative sections continue to rise making it more difficult each year to publish this report in good time. Comment in this introduction and in other parts of the Report will be somewhat curtailed this year. Statistical The Registrar General’s mid-year estimate of population admits a further increase of 1,400 persons over the previous year thus main- taining over a decade the highest rate of increase for any County Borough. Reference to the numerous individual County Reports of the Registrar General relating to the 1966 sample census reveals that Eastbourne with 28.066 has the highest percentage of persons aged 65 and over for any County Borough whilst the administrative county of East Sussex has the highest percentage for any county (20.678 per cent.). All the indications are that these figures have already been significantly exceeded. Birth Rate Following five years of relatively high rate the corrected figure for 1968 of 12.46 now follows the national trend of a fall towards the levels which prevailed during the “fifties”. General The rising proportion of dependent elderly in the community, the relative insufficiency of community and hospital resources, and the increasing difficulty of recruitment of staff able and willing to provide physical care for the aged and handicapped has caused me to comment in terms of ever greater urgency in each successive Annual Report. However, my assessment of the implications of the south coast crisis in geriatric welfare and my recommendations, real or supposed, have