Medical Officer for Health
Encyclopedia
The Medical Officer for Health is a title usually given to the head of the health department at a municipal level.
In the United Kingdom, the municipal position was an elected head of the local board of health
, however the term has also been used to refer to the Chief Medical Officer. Under the Metropolis Local Management Act 1855, London municipalities were each required to appoint a medical officer. In 1856, 48 officers took up appointments in the city, and these specialists formed Metropolitan Association of Medical Officers of Health.
In the United Kingdom, the municipal position was an elected head of the local board of health
Local board of health
Local Boards or Local Boards of Health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate slaughterhouses and ensure the proper supply of water to their...
, however the term has also been used to refer to the Chief Medical Officer. Under the Metropolis Local Management Act 1855, London municipalities were each required to appoint a medical officer. In 1856, 48 officers took up appointments in the city, and these specialists formed Metropolitan Association of Medical Officers of Health.
Officers
- William Henry DuncanWilliam Henry DuncanWilliam Henry Duncan , also known as Doctor Duncan, was an English Doctor who worked in Liverpool as its first Medical Officer of Health and also Britain's first Chief Medical Officer.....
, LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880... - John SimonJohn Simon (doctor)Sir John Simon KCB, FRS, FRCS was and English pathologist, surgeon and public health officer. He was the second Chief Medical Officer for Her Majesty's Government from 1855–1876.- Biography :...
, City of London (1848-1855) - see Medical Officer of Health for LondonMedical Officer of Health for LondonMedical Officer of Health for London was a public elected position for the city of London established in 1848. It was the second municipal position of its kind in England, the first being William Henry Duncan for Liverpool... - Alfred Hill, Birmingham
- David Davies, Bristol
- Henry Armstrong, Newcastle-on-Tyne
- Shirley Foster Murphy (1848-1923) St. Pancras (1878-1884)
- John Bristowe, Camberwell
- John Tripe, Hackney
- William RendleWilliam RendleWilliam Rendle , antiquary, son of William Rendle of Polperro, near Fowey, Cornwall, who married, May 1810, Mary, daughter of William and Dorothy Johns of the same place, was born at the village of Millbrook, Cornwall, 18 Feb. 1811. He was trained by his parents in the principles of Wesleyanism...
, St. George Southwark (1856-1859) - Edmund Gwynn, Hampstead
- B. A. Whitelegge (1852-1933), Nottingham (1884-9)
- Henry Beale Collins, Kingston
- Edwin LankesterEdwin LankesterEdwin Lankester MRCS, FRS was an English surgeon and naturalist who made a major contribution to the control of cholera in London: he was the first public analyst in England.- Life :...
, St. James
Further reading
- Ashton, Recalling the Medical Officer of Health, Health Promot. Int. 1988; 3: 413-419