[Report 1950] / Medical Officer of Health, Beverley Borough.

  • Beverley (England). Borough Council. nb2013018795.
Date:
1950
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1950] / Medical Officer of Health, Beverley Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/43 (page 5)
    STATISTICAL fVIEfVlORANDUiVI. Borough Borough of Beverley Population (estimated mid 1950) 15,540 Number of inhabited houses (estimated) 4,450 Rateable Value ;f83,548 Sum repr esented by a Penny Rate £325 Total Births 255 Birth-rate 16.4 Total Deaths 169 Death-rate 10.9 Deaths of infants under one year of age 7 (Six legitimate, one illegitimate) Infantile Mortality 27.5 per 1,000 live births Number of Illegitimate Births 14 SOCIAL eONOITiONS. There would appear to be some need for more recrea- tional facilities for children in the more densely populated area of the town, as there are no playgrounds or playing fields for the younger children. The great majority of sports and football fields are attached to one or other of the larger firms of the district or belong to the Education Authority, the latter being purely for the use of pupils attend- ing the school during school term. When one takes into consideration that the town is surrounded by large tracts of open grass land it does seem a pity that more open spaces are not available for young children to play on in the vicinity of their homes. The care of old people as in most parts of the country often gives rise to difficult social problems. Although there are a number of Almshouses and Homes for old people within the Borough these are by no means sufficient to accommodate all the deserving cases, and the problem of old people living alone, becoming ill or too frail to look after themselves, and having no relatives capable of or willing to do so frequently arises. There is often a con- siderable delay in getting such cases into a suitable hospital or institution. It is difficult to decide whether to implement section 47 of the National Assistance Act, 1948, which can force these old people to enter a suitable institution, as many of them prefer to remain in their own homes. There is no doubt that these problems will become greater as the years pass, due to the increased number of elderly people in the community, and that more suitable dwellings will be re- quired where supervision and attention can be provided.