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the Medical Officers of Health have been over-ruled
by the Chairman on technical points have come to my
notice during the last few months.
I have succeeded, I think, in making it clear
to the present Chairman of the Urban Council not only
that this must go on no longer but, furthermore, that it
is my intention that the control of all the activities of
the Urban Council which concern the sanitation of the
town shall be delegated by the Chairman to his Deputy.
But the Director of Medical Services has far too many
other duties to make this possible in his case:
hence
I propose to replace him on the Urban Council by a
Deputy Director of Health Services who will, through the
Medical Officers of Health attached to the Urban Council,
'run' the whole of that side of the Council's work.
It is principally for that purpose that I
want this new post and I have written at this length
to indicate that I want above all things a man of tact,
firmness and a 'good fellow to boot'. Frankly, I do not
think much of the present Medical Officers of Health, but
I do not think that the existing regime is calculated to
bring the best out of professional men: so I want also
a man who can inspire others. The duties of the Deputy
Director of Health Services will, of course, not be confined
to the urban area, although that contains the great bulk
of the population and presents most of our problems: there
is a crying need for better sanitation in the rural districts.