View report page

17
Owing to the overcrowding which so often exists, this Committee will
have to tackle this problem by arranging to have kept in the Hospital for
48 hours, all tonsil and adenoid cases who after operation would have to go
back to insanitary conditions.
The Authorities at Great Ormond Street Hospital ask for such a sanitary
report prior to operation, and they do not hesitate to keep over the night those
cases concerning whose homes an adverse report is given.
There were 138 cases operated on under this Authority's scheme during
the year.
Skin Diseases.—These complaints are treated at the Minor Ailments
Clinic, as well as external eye diseases, such as inflammatory conditions of the
lids, etc., and cases of otorrhoea; these are the conditions which pile up the
clinic attendances.
Cases of ringworm of the scalp are sent to the Prince of Wales' Hospital
for X Ray Treatment. Eleven cases were sent during the year, the charge
per case to this Authority being 25/-. No charge is made to the parent.
Cleansing Station.—This is situated in the Town Hall yard, and one
session per week is allocated to each of the three nurses for the cleansing of
verminous children and the treatment of scabies. Unfortunately, it is
frequently the same children who require the cleansing, but I impress on the
nurses that their duty in this matter is not necessarily to relieve the mother of
all responsibility in keeping their children clean, but rather to lend a helping
hand to those mothers who have been bowled over by illness, etc., and where
the condition is an unfortunate accident, and in those cases where there is no
mother and the responsibility falls on an elder sister, perhaps herself still at
school.
As will be seen by Table IV., Group V., there has been one case in which
the parent has been before the Court for non-attendance at school due to
exclusion for verminous conditions, and where I gave orders that no further
cleansing should be undertaken.
Defective Vision and Squint.—Dr. (Miss) Smith-Clark attends
one session weekly to see cases of the above, whilst an optician attends the
same time to receive the prescription and take measurements for the spectacles.