London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

View report page

London County Council 1942

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]

This page requires JavaScript

20
At each of the special parties there is one or more of the Council's nurses, except
in the case of one or two small parties where a nurse from an adjacent party or
district makes frequent calls.
In addition to the children under 5 years of age sent to receiving areas under
Plans V and VII there was a total of 4,279 unaccompanied children under 5 years of
age sent to special nurseries or nursery schools in the country during 1942. Of
these children, 3,400 were from the county of London and 879 from out-county
evacuation areas.
The general medical supervision of all the evacuated nurseries and nursery
schools has now been taken over by the appropriate local authority.
The respective county medical officers of health kindly send reports on the welfare
of the children and on the conditions generally of the premises, and in addition
records of illness and of infectious disease and of other relevant matters are submitted
by the matrons and commandants, and visits are made as occasion demands
by the Council's officers.
Medical inspection
The estimated number of elementary school children in London in January
1942, was 148,000; by the end of the year this number had increased to about
220,000, with a school attendance rate of about 82 per cent.; the number of
schools open in December was 674 compared with 552 at the end of 1941.
The usual four age group inspections were continued throughout the year on
pre-war lines, but the "nutritional survey" introduced as a war-time measure,
and referred to in the last annual report, was suspended in October, 1942, since no
difficulty was met in carrying out the usual age group inspections.

Particulars of detailed examinations at elementary schools during 1941 and 1942 are as follows:—

Age group19421941
Entrants27,72620,698
Children aged 716,53914,228
Children aged 1120,74819,202
Leavers aged 13 plus23,31218,404
88,32572,532
Other ages29,56522,391
117,89094,923
Children in special schools and classes798566
Total118,68895,489

The high number of "other ages" reflects the drift back to London. Children
who returned and who were outside the usual age groups were examined if no recent
medical records were available.
Re-inspections of children previously noted with defects totalled 39,695. These
inspections showed that 75.3 per cent. were treated or discharged as no longer
needing treatment; the remainder were still to be followed up. In addition,
14,064 inspections were made of children who were being given school meals on the
advice of school doctors, head teachers or school care committees, and 71,897 of
children about whom advice was required by teachers, care committees, etc., and
in connection with the nutritional survey.
Including the evacuation examinations and the children seen in schools and at
day centres for the treatment of rheumatism, vision, ear and nutritional defects,
the total number of inspections made was 272,301 exclusive of 6,698 carried out at
higher education institutions.