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78
It will be seen that in all three departments better use might
have been made of the flushing apparatus, and it would be well if
the attention of the head teachers and the caretakers were called to
this point. There was, however, no evidence that any special
difficulty arose in the infant schools. As a matter of fact the
smaller children require personal supervision when using the
lavatories, whatever form of apparatus is installed.
ORGANIZATION AND CO-ORDINATION OF SCHOOL AND
OTHER PUBLIC HEALTH WORK.
The general organization remains the same as in 1908.
The medical officer of health is school medical officer, and
is assisted by one whole time assistant medical officer (Dr. Sophie
Jackson), together with a part time ophthalmic surgeon,
who devotes two half-days per school week to the work. The
whole time of one clerk is also taken up with school duties, as
is also half the time of each of the health visitors. Assistance is
also rendered, when required, by other members of the public health
staff, and especially by the senior resident medical officer at the
borough hospital, who is not only responsible for the examination
of the large number of bacteriological specimens sent from school
children, but also assists me, when required, in the examination of
children at the Town Hall on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.
For the present, medical inspection is limited to those children for
whom the present code compels us to make provision, together with
a variable number of children presented for special examination at
the suggestion of the teachers, attendance officers, attendance
committee, or magistrates.
The children whom the code at present requires us to inspect
are those about to leave school and newly admitted infants.
It is found in practice that about 20 children can be inspected
at a school session, and it is therefore undesirable to hold
an inspection until as many as 20 children have matured for
inspection. According to the standing orders, the head teachers
should give notice when this point has been reached, and it would
have been a great convenience if this information had been forwarded
more regularly than at present, as it would then have been possible
to map out the work of the staff to greater advantage. Until these
notices are received we do not know the exact number of children
who are waiting inspection, and I am, therefore, unable to
foretell how many school sessions will be taken up by each
school. It therefore sometimes happens that preliminary arrangements
are made for holding inspections for which there are not
sufficient children to occupy the whole of the time allotted to the