[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Ealing].

  • Ealing (London, England). Council.
Date:
[1954?]
Catalogue details

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

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Ealing]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/70 (page 6)
    6 Council all opportunity for initiative or enterprise in many fields, including maternity and child welfare and care and after care of the aged. It is to be greatly deplored that no step has been taken to rectify this, since much could and should be done by means of local experiment in the various fields that are at present subjugated to the enormous administrative machine controlling the activities of the Local Health Authority. Our artificial division of medicine and preventive medicine into services maintained by Hospital Boards, Executive Councils, Health Authorities, Local Sanitary Authorities and Government Departments, all of whom are financed almost entirely from general taxation, make it difficult to believe that some more simple, more economical, and more effective organisation could not be devised to provide a lively and compre hensive medical service under one reasonably sized unit of population. Personally, after much experience in a wide variety of conditions I should have no hesitation in planning areas of 100,000 to 200,000 population with a few specialised services for really large regions. Ealing would be an excellent area to handle its own health services and it is to be hoped that its good record in the past will enable it to claim an opportunity to return to its proper function in the future. The problem of London government, which of course covers all outer areas such as Ealing, could surely be sorted out by a team of experienced local government officers, and a 'new deal' made. The drift we are now experiencing is inimical to the interests of the good administration upon which must largely rest the welfare of the people. Dr. H. Binysh, Deputy Medical Officer of Health, has been appointed Deputy County Medical Officer of Health to Staffordshire County Council, and this will be a great loss to the department as Dr. Binysh has become extremely valuable in the work of the Sanitary Service of the Borough Council in addition to his work as Senior Assistant Medical Officer in charge of school medical service work. Naturally, we wish to extend our best wishes to Dr. Binysh on his appointment and regret his loss to our department. Changes in staff have been made during the year and to those that have left us I wish to express my appreciation of their services and for those who have joined the staff—welcome. Once more may I express my appreciation of the work of the staff of the Department during the year. Your obedient servant, W. G. BOOTH, Medical Officer of Health.