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The Holborn children attend Rheumatism Supervisory Clinics at the Hospital
for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, and at the Royal Free Hospital.
Enquiries in Notified Cases of Rheumatism.
Enquiries into the housing conditions of the notified cases showed that 7 lived in
satisfactory artisan self-contained flats; one lived in a satisfactory artisan home, a divided
house of a comfortable type (a better class of house let in lodgings); 5 lived in houses let
in lodgings.
Dampness in Houses.
No signs of dampness were found in any of the houses in which the thirteen children
were resident.
Lighting and Ventilation.
One child lived in a semi-basement flat, and another in a flat in which although the
lighting was not good, the flat was well built and the street and courtyard adjoining fairly
wide, so that lighting and ventilation compared not unfavourably with upper floors in
narrow streets and small courtyards. The remaining homes were well ventilated and the
lighting good; in only one case was ventilation or lighting markedly unsatisfactory.
Overcrowding.
There was overcrowding within the meaning of the Housing Act, 1936, in two of the
houses, and steps were taken to remedy this condition.
Sleeping Arrangements.
One child had a separate room; four children had separate beds, two of these in rooms
shared with another child, one in a room shared with two children and one in a room with
three adults. Eight children shared a bed, five with one other child, one with two other
children, and two with one adult.
Social Conditions.
In three homes there was a history of chronic poverty; in two of these the mother
had been many years widowed.
Value of Notification of Rheumatism in Children.
The periodic visiting which follows upon notification enables the health visitor to bringhome
to the parents the need of special care for the child and of giving consideration to
his future welfare. Without such visiting, the poor health of the child might be accepted
as inevitable and no special effort made to secure for him the best conditions within the
reach of the parents.