HC Deb 07 May 1874 vol 218 cc1834-6
DR. LUSH

asked the President of the Local Government Board, If his attention has been called to the circumstances detailed at an inquest hold by the coroner of Hants upon the body of a labourer's wife named Day, in the parish of Lasham, in the Alton Union; whether he will insist upon the immediate appointment of a Medical Officer of Health for that Union; and, whether he will cause a full inquiry to take place as to the carrying out of sanitary inspection there as directed by the Public Health Act of 1872?

MR. DIXON

asked the President of the Local Government Board, whether his attention has been called to the depositions and verdict respecting the death of Mary Day, of Lasham, Hampshire; and whether it is true, as is alleged, that her death was "accelerated by her exposure and wretched condition, which were the consequence of the want of proper and efficient sanitary supervision and inspection;" and if so, what steps he proposes to take in the matter?

MR. SCLATER-BOOTH

Sir, my attention has been called to the peculiar circumstances attending the death of the wife of a labourer in the Alton Union, and before Notice of this Question had been given, inquiry had been made of the Alton Guardians upon the subject, and the inspector of the district had also been directed to investigate the circumstances. The deceased and her husband were remarkable people, of settlement unknown, who are said to have lived for many years in different parts of the country in some such habitation as that in which the woman died, the man always in good work and known to have earned regular wages on different farms in the district. The result of the inquiries fails to fix any special blame upon the sanitary authority or its officers. It is true that there has been no appointment of Medical Officer of Health in this particular district, because the Guardians have not been able to come to terms with the person they wished to appoint, but they will be required to proceed immediately to do so. As to the Inspector of Nuisances, it would have been undoubtedly his duty to report the case as one of a dwelling unfit for human habitation had he been aware of its existence; but the situation of the place being more than a mile away from the village and far from any public road, it is easy to understand that, in the absence of special information, he was not aware of it. He appears, moreover, to be doing his work very well, and an examination of his books proves that cases of over-crowded dwellings have been reported by him and dealt with on his report by the Guardians, and that in one particular case a hut like the one in which the death now in question occurred has been cleared out in consequence, and its inhabitants removed. The reply of the Guardians bears testimony to the generally excellent character and conduct of the relieving officer of the district; but on this occasion he undoubtedly was in error when he refused to give an order for the parish doctor at a time when it was not in his power, from pressure of other business, to visit the case and ascertain the facts immediately. This statement of their opinion will be communicated by the Local Government Board to the Guardians and relieving officer accordingly.