CO129-566-2 Medical Department 30-6-1938 - 1-3-1939 — Page 21

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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.