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Perhaps, in the reasonably near future, consideration could be
given to the abolition of the statutory 5-year old examination in
favour of one at 4½ years to be carried out at the school—the
child's future "occupational environment". In this way, many
children might be saved from unhappy days of re-adjustment to
new surroundings and the teaching staff from frustration in overcoming the various individual problems sometimes encountered
in the new school entrant.
Smallpox Vaccination
For some time there has been disquiet that in sophisticated
societies the incidence of complications, some of which are
serious, following smallpox vaccination are not justified by the
few cases of imported disease which are quickly dealt with by the
community health authorities.
Accordingly, except for those members of the health services
whose duties would bring them into immediate contact with a
sufferer from smallpox before diagnosis had been made, only
those requiring vaccination for the purpose of travelling abroad
are recommended to receive protection.
On the advice of the Department of Health and Social Security,
routine vaccination against smallpox was discontinued unless, despite medical counselling, it was specifically requested by parents.
Medical Staff
Six full-time and 63 sessional Medical Officers (equivalent to
7.3 full-time doctors) are employed by the Council for clinical
duties in the Child Health Centres.
As already mentioned, an increasing emphasis is now placed
on the value of the development assessment of the young child.
With this in mind and with the kind assistance of the Centre
Staff, a training course was arranged at the Brook Hospital Post
Graduate Medical Centre in February at which Dr. Dorothy Egan
from the Newcomen Centre at Guy's Hospital lectured and
demonstrated developmental testing at various age groups to 2
full-time and 6 part-time Council doctors. A few general practitioners, not employed by the Council in a part-time capacity, as
well as members of the Hospital medical staff also attended. The
course proved invaluable in extending the scope of the work
carried out in the Council clinics.
Medical Officers also attended day and week-end Post Graduate
Courses in Paediatrics at the Brook Hospital, the Sydenham
Children's Hospital, the Institute of Child Health at Great Or-