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require treatment, not provided by their parents, to the Centres for treatment,
the connecting links between the schools and the Centres being the School
Care Committees and the Council organisers. The Public Medical Service, for
its part, rents, equips (in this it is initially financially assisted by the County
Council) and maintains suitable premises and appoints medical officers (the
appointments are approved by the Council) who carry out the necessary
medical and dental treatment. Generally speaking, the medical officers and
dental surgeons live and practice in the Borough, and are appointed annually
by the Committee. The actually working of the Centres and management
is in the hands of the Secretary-Superintendent, who is most ably assisted
by a whole-time nurse provided by the County Council at each Centre.
As regards the financial arrangements, the County Council pays a fixed
session rate for the remuneration of the medical and dental staff, and also a
fixed capitation fee for each case treated at the Centres. All the expenses
of maintenance are defrayed out of these grants. For the last period of
twelve months for which the accounts have been made up the County
Council made payments amounting to £2,098 13s. 6d. The cases treated
may be grouped as follows : —
Eye Cases. — Children whose eyes are found to be defective are referred to
the Centre, their refractions are carefully done, and suitable spectacles are
ordered. An optician attends at the Centre, measures the children and
subsequently sees that the spectacles fit. There is a special tariff for spectacles,
and all arrangements for payment are made by one of the County Council's
organisers. Apart from errors of refractions, all needful eye treatment is
carried out, with the exception of operations demanding in-patient treatment.
Eye treatment is only done at the Prince of Wales Road Centre, as in the
Southern portion of the Borough there are so many hospitals that there are
not enough cases to warrant an eye department at Lancing Street. At
Prince of Wales Road 925 eye cases were dealt with in 1919.
Ear, Throat and Nose Cases. — Defects of these organs are very common
amongst school children, and include enlarged tonsils and adenoids and
running ears, besides less common ailments. The cases needing operations are
dealt with once a week at each Centre by the Surgeon and Anaesthetist, and
no child is sent home until the Nurse in charge is satisfied that it is quite
safe. Occasionally there are cases of haemorrhage, which require further
treatment, and then if necessary the child is kept at the Centre all night.
After being sent home each case is visited by a district nurse until well, if
necessary by the Surgeon who did the operation, and is subsequently inspected
before final discharge. Arrangements are being made for each child to have
a course of remedial breathing exercises by which it is hoped that recurrence
will be avoided. The treatment of discharging ears is carried out by the
Minor Ailment Nurse (to be referred to later) under the direction of the
Aural Surgeon, and each child attends daily or if necessary twice a day. The
numbers for the Aural Departments are for 1919 :—
Prince of Wales Road . . . . 784
Lancing Street (6 months only) .. 261
Dental Cases.—These departments are very busy, and the children's teeth