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Report of the Principal School Medical Officer
for the year 1966
Organisation
This is the second annual report on the School
Health Service provided since 1st April 1965, by
the London Borough of Hounslow. The
arrangement whereby the school health service
was closely integrated with the other health
services administered by the Department of
Health has continued. Joint use is made of
medical, dental, nursing and other staff as well as
of clinic premises.
Co-operation
It is important that there is an exchange of
information between hospital, general
practitioner and school medical staff.
On the whole, local hospitals send reports to
the school medical officers on children who have
been in-patients; others tend not to do so
automatically but will send reports on request.
Before any child is referred for specialist or
hospital treatment it is the practice, except in
emergencies, to ask the family doctor whether
he is in agreement, or whether he wishes to treat
or refer the child himself.
School Health Service
School Population

Periodic Medical Inspection
Under the provisions of the Education Act it is
the duty of a local education authority to provide,
at appropriate intervals, for the medical
inspection of pupils in attendance at any school
provided by them. The authority may require the
parent of any pupil, in attendance at such school,
to submit the pupil for medical inspection in
accordance with the arrangements made for such
inspection. Although the Act thus places a legal
obligation on the parent to submit the child for
examination, no pressure is put on the parents
unless there is reason to suspect that the pupil
may need special education or may suffer from a
defect which might interfere with educational
progress. The parent is under no obligation to
accept for the child any medical treatment
offered by the authority and some parents use the
facilities provided under the National Health
Service Act.
A minimum of three medical inspections during
school life is recommended but a local education
authority may arrange others. The usual
minimum is as follows—
Entrants —on admission to school for the
first time
Intermediates—during last year in primary or
first year in secondary school
Leavers —during last year at school
An additional medical inspection at seven to
eight years is carried out in the Borough and
efforts are made to examine pupils in nursery
classes each term. At the examination of
'intermediates' colour vision is tested, as colour
blindness may have a bearing on the pupil's
secondary education and selection of a career.
Parents are notified of these periodic medical
inspections and invited to attend. The proportion
of parents attending varies from school to school
but is generally highest at the 'entrants'
examination. These examinations should be
conducted in school to facilitate consideration by
parent, teacher and medical officer of any
problem concerning the health, education or
social adjustment of the pupil but because of
pressure of accommodation the inspections for
some schools have to be carried out in the nearest
clinic.
When a periodic medical inspection is arranged
the head teacher is asked to submit the names of
any other pupils in whose case special medical
inspection is thought to be advisable. Also pupils
requiring follow-up from previous medical
inspections can be seen and thus the visit of the
medical officer to the school is used to cover a
wider field than a selected age group. If the best
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