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129
The scheme for the co-ordination of the work of School Medical
Officers and Tuberculosis Officers in the supervision of contacts
continues to work satisfactorily. A report on all contacts and
unsatisfactory children of school age whom the Tuberculosis
Officer encounters in his work is forwarded to the School Medical
Officer. These children are examined and weighed at regular
intervals by the school medical authorities, and should a case
fail to make satisfactory progress and reveal any symptoms
suggestive of tuberculosis it is referred back to the Dispensary
for a further opinion. We are grateful to the District School
Medical Officer for his co-operation in carrying out this scheme
and for his help in other directions, particularly in providing
treatment for minor ailments and tonsils and adenoids, and in
arranging for some of our delicate children to be sent to residential
schools in the country or at the seaside.
The children attending Stormont House Open-air school have
made good progress during the year. Both pulmonary and nonpulmonary
cases of either sex are eligible for admission, and the
ages range from 6 to 16 years. The classes are held in special
open shelters, but there is ample accommodation indoors in case
of emergency. Records of temperature, weight, etc., are kept
by the school nurse, and I visit the school weekly and examine
all children at least once a term, and those needing special care
more frequently. The exercise and rest of each child is carefully
supervised. A drink of milk in the middle of the morning and
afternoon sessions and an excellent mid-day dinner are provided
at a nominal charge, though no payment is exacted in necessitous
cases.
In accordance with the London County Council instruction
that all children attending open-air schools should receive an
annual holiday, 45 boys and 15 girls were sent to the seaside for
a period of two weeks during the Summer. These holidays are
appreciated by the children and their parents, and there is
little doubt that they have a beneficial effect on the health of
the children. Longer periods of convalescence are readily
provided by the London County Council for those children who
are not making satisfactory progress. Several of our children
have been sent to Broadstairs for periods varying from three to
six months under the scheme. The benefit to health resulting
has been most marked.
Last year I commented on the loss the school had sustained in
the resignation of Miss Carson, the Headmistress. The school,
however, is fortunate in its new head, Mr. Bowling, who has had
many years experience of the work of open-air schools, and is in
full sympathy with the medical side of the work, and I am assured
of his ready co-operation in the medical welfare of the children.