[Report 1943] / Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer of Health, Rochdale County Borough.

  • Rochdale (Lancashire, England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1943
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1943] / Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer of Health, Rochdale County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    3/52 (page 3)
    To the Chairman and Members of the Health Committee of the County Borough of Rochdale. Gentlemen, In accordance with the instructions received from the Ministry of Health this Report has again been much curtailed. The Ministry have, however, requested that brief additional information should be recorded in respect of Tuberculosis, Venereal Diseases, Diphtheria Immunisation and methods to improve the general standard of cleanliness. The usual arrangements have been continued to ensure that full statistics will be available after the war. The first portion of the Report is statistical in character. The birthrate is substantially the same as last year, remaining considerable above the average for the previous ten years. The deathrate also is similar to that of last year and slightly above the average for the previous ten years. The infantile mortality rate shows very considerable reduction as compared with last year. We have now had four very good years since 1939, but unfortunately the intervening year of 1940 recorded the highest figure since 1929. The Maternal deaths, which numbered seven in 1941 and five in 1942, have returned this year again to seven. The mortality rate, however, remains below that of the bad years, since the birthrate has now considerably increased. The general incidence of infectious disease showed an increase as compared with 1942, but no serious epidemic was experienced throughout the year except to a minor degree in respect of chicken-pox and whooping-cough, mainly in April and May. Normal working of the Department’s Health Services was maintained, although in some cases in the face of increased difficulties. In spite of these difficulties certain very definite advances were recorded during the year in various aspects of the Health Committee’s work. A new Municipal Pathological Laboratory was opened in premises at Birch Hill Hospital, this replacing gradually the arrangement previously in operation with a private laboratory. In June the Standard Maintenance Allowance Scheme for persons in¬ capacitated by Pulmonary Tuberculosis, came into operation. By Spring of the year the War-time Nursery at Castleton had settled down to regular working and full operation. The work of the Maternity Home at Birch Hill reached a high record and steps had to be considered at the end of the year to prevent admissions becoming unmanageable.