HH62/1/ELGIN/7

Transcription

[page] 6

commonly exist and are most prejudicial to health. My attention
was specially directed to their water supply, drainage, and the
existence of such nuisances as were likely to prove injurious to
health. The results of these inquiries were embodied in a report
drawn up by the Sanitary Inspector and myself, which was sub-
mitted to the Public Health Committee of the Council, and is now
under consideration by them.
In that report the general sanitary condition of the district,
especially of the villages, was stated to be only fair, leaving room for
great improvement.
Since that report was drawn up I have, through the kindness of
the Registrars, been furnished with returns of the births and deaths
throughout the district for the past year -

The Birth Rate = 27.16 per 1000 of population.
The Death Rate = 15.81 per 1000 of population.
The Infantile Death Rate = 95.6 per 1000 births.

Judged from these data alone the sanitary state of the district is
good, more especially when the number of deaths at sixty years of
age and upwards is taken into account, viz., 202 out of a total of 414
deaths.
The death rate alone, however, is not a fair criterion of the health
of a district, because there may be a great deal of sickness and few
deaths, or vice versa. From what I have been able to learn, the past
year has been distinguished by the existence of much dishealth in
the community.
The adoption of the Infectious Disease (Notification) Act, which
came into force in the district on the 1st of July last, has given us
information as to the incidence of the diseases included under it for
the latter half of the year. The information thus obtained will be
referred to later.
To form any definite conclusion, however, from the foregoing
data for one year only would be wrong. We require to have similar
data extending over a series of years, so that we may compare one
year with another, and with the average of a series of years.
In the following table the urban populations within the County
of Elgin are included:-

[table inserted]

Had time and opportunity permitted, I should have liked to have
inquired into the incidence of the various diseases in different dis-

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tricts for several years back, in order, if possible, to discover any
connection between the locality and the diseases most commonly
met with in it. Some inquiries in this direction I shall hope to
make in the course of this year.

2. - General and Special Inquiries.
As above mentioned, I have inquired into the sanitary state of
the district generally, and especially into the condition of the villages,
the result being embodied in the report already referred to.

3. - Advice Certificates, Offensive Trades, &c.
No Certificates have been granted.
The condition of the Slaughter Houses throughout the district
is bad. Eleven have been visited, and, almost without exception,
they are unsuited for the purpose either from their site, their con-
struction, or both.
An application was made for permission to erect a new slaughter-
house at Hopeman, but the application was refused, the site being
considered unsuitable.

4. - Bake-houses.
The Bake-houses inspected within the district numbered twenty-
one. The majority of them have been visited on more than one
occasion. With a few exceptions, I found them well kept and suit-
able for the purpose. The owners or occupiers were, in some
instances, ignorant of the provisions of the Act. They expressed
their willingness to adhere to these provisions, and to remedy any
existing defects. In two or three instances structural alterations are
necessary, and these I hope to find in progress at my next visit.

5. - Hospitals.
The Local Authority possess no hospital of their own for the
reception of infectious diseases, if we except three cottages, situated
respectively at Kingston, Burghead, and Findhorn, which were
provided by the late Local Authorities some years ago in view of
cholera being imported into the district.
In Gray's Hospital, Elgin, the benefits of which are open to the
inhabitants of the whole county, the upper storey is set apart for the
reception of cases of infectious disease, and a special nurse provided.
A separate entrance, by means of an outside staircase, was provided
some years ago. There are four wards - two large and two small -
providing accommodation for about sixteen patients. At the time of
my visit one of the smaller wards was being used as a dormitory for
nurses from the general wards.
I understand that a proposal for providing a proper ambulance in
connection with this Hospital is now under consideration.