[Report 1956] / Medical Officer of Health, West Sussex County Council.

  • West Sussex (England). County Council.
Date:
1956
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1956] / Medical Officer of Health, West Sussex County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/56
    Annual Report of the County Medical Officer for the year 1956. F0RE1Q PD To the Chairman and Members of the Health Committee of the West Sussex County Council. I have the honour to present my Annual Report for the year 1956. Information is given under each section of the report, Which indicates the way in which the functions of the Department are carried out, as well as the extent of the work nowadays. It will be noted that the population of the County continued to increase, being estimated by the Registrar General at mid-year to bo 358?700. In spite of the balancing effect of Crawley’s young population, the statistics show the influence of the aged, or ageing, population, i.e. on birth and death rates and on such services as those of blind welfare. This increase in aged persons year by year should bo taken into account when the services which are made available to the aged are under discussion - health visitors, home helps. Part III accommodation provided by the Welfare Committee, meals on wheels, social clubs, etc. - and to give some idea, of the problem, the number of people in the County at the end of last year who were 65 or over, using the Registrar General’s calculations, based on the census of 1951? is estimated to be 60,000. Of those, 17,600 were in Worthing. With regard to blind welfare, to appreciate the size of the problem in future, regard should be had to the statistics I quote in the body of the Report (pa.ge 13)? where it will be noted tha.t it is estima.tod that there >111 be 1651 people on the register of blind persons in 1973? compared with the present number of 834. Tuberculosis showed a further decrease in 1956? both as regards cases notified and number cf deaths. Both were lower than in.any other year recorded, and the gre.ph on page 17 shows how the reduction he.s taken place during the last twelve years. During the year, the Government's scheme for the inoculation of certain age groups of cliildren against poliomyelitis was instituted. As a result of tho County Council’s acceptance of the Ministry's scheme, 12,988 children were registered for inoculation who came within the priority age groups 2-9 years. In view of this response, it was unfortunate that only limited supplies of vaccine were available, before a temporary cessation occurred from June to the end of November, during the so called poliomyelitis epidemic season. For details of tho work carried out, reference should be made to the section in the text of this report (page 12). Owing to the short notice which we had for the preparation of the distribution scheme - the injections la.st year he.d to be all given by the County medical staff - the short time during which the vaccinations could be carried out (May, June and December), and the fact that tho vaccine cannot be exposed to ordinary temperatures for long, much detailed planning ws.s necessary, with consequent disturbance of routine work. During the year, Mr. Potter, Chief Clerk of the Department^ retired, lie ho.d been Chief Clerk for 27 years, and in fact had been in the service of the County Council for 51 years. I would like to pay tribute to his work, and worth, and to the help I always ha.d from him. My thanks are due to the Chairman and Members of the Committee for their encouragement and support during the year, and to members of the staff of the County Health Department for their loyal assistance. J.S. BRADSHAW. County Medical Officer. County Hall, Chichester. September, 1957*