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79
mixed while warm and stirred well until completely emulsified. The hair is thoroughly washed with
this preparation and after an interval of about 10 minutes, the comb is used.
It is estimated that the proposed new centres will provide facilities for dealing with some 35,000
extra cases annually and it is anticipated that a considerable improvement in the standard of cleanliness
among school children will be effected.
The number of cleansings given during the year was 123,975 as compared with 105,639 in the
previous year. During 1920, an additional cleansing station was opened by the Council in the Old
Ford district, but the station established by Miss McMillan at Wellington-street, Deptford, was closed
in August, and the Kensington Borough station was only at work for 7 months, the borough
council having decided on its demolition in connection with their housing scheme and the erection
of a new station on a different site.
Agreements are now in force with 16 of the 29 local authorities (an agreement is, moreover,
pending with Stepney) and with one voluntary committee. The 12 boroughs councils with which there
is no agreement are Bermondsey, Bethnal Green, Chelsea, Finsbury, Fulham, Hammersmith, Holborn,
Lambeth, Lewisham, Paddington, Shoreditch and Wandsworth; the majority of these boroughs have
made no provision under the Cleansing of Persons Act, 1897.
The total number of examinations made of children who were followed up under the cleansing scheme
was 822,337; verminous conditions were found in 43,764 of these andsecond warnings given. In 14,745
of these latter cases advantage was taken voluntarily and without further warning of the facilities
offered for cleansing at the stations, but in 16,384 instances it was necessary to serve, after a further
examination, statutory notices ; following upon these statutory notices 4,572 children attended the
stations voluntarily, but of the remainder 8,092 were found verminous after a still further examination
and were compulsorily taken by the nurses for cleansing. Among the children who were compulsorily
cleansed, 628 were subsequently found to have relapsed and prosecutions under the Act were instituted
in 528 cases.
The practice was continued throughout the school holiday of arranging for the cleansing
stations to be kept open, where possible, in order that there might be no interruption in the treatment
of scabies cases. The number of children treated at the stations during the year was 9,675, showing
an increase of 1,304 over 1919, whereas in the latter year there was a decrease as compared with the
figures for 1918. On the other hand it is satisfactory to note that the measures taken resulted in
quicker cure, and although there was an increase in the number of cases there was a decrease in the number
of baths per child. Much attention has been given latterly to the question of scabies by Dr. Nash,
and arrangements have been made to carry out certain suggestions made by him for enabling a stricter
control to be maintained during the current year. In the course of his investigations Dr. Nash found
that often the difficulty in securing effective control is the interval that elapses between the notification
of the case to the local sanitary authority in order that infected bedding may be dealt with, and the
actual date of disinfection. In some boroughs as many as 14 days, while in others only 3 days, elapsed.
The method of treatment also varied considerably, but that carried out at the Southwark station
(Izal baths and sulphur ointment) appeared to Dr. Nash to be the most effective in shortening the
period of treatment.
Towards the end of the year attention was drawn by Dr. Parkes, M.O.H. of Chelsea, to a method
adopted in Denmark for curing scabies. Experiments were tried at the Council's stations with the
preparation used in Denmark and, although it is early as yet to form definite conclusions, there appears
to be no doubt as to the value of the method so far as rapid curing of the condition is concerned. The
question of re-infection (after being completely cured) by unsatisfactory home conditions, however,
still remains as an outstanding difficulty.
The experiment of bathing certain children of the 6-8 age group referred to in last year's annual
report, has been continued successfully in Camberwell and Kensington. The question of extending
the scope of the scheme and including the borough of Shoreditch is now under consideration, but
in the meantime the Board of Education has been asked whether the extension of the scheme would
rank for grant in payment of 50 per cent. of the cost.
The following report by Miss Marion Moore, the head teacher of Sirdar-road girls' school,
shows how the teachers are entering into the scheme:—"A group of girls from this school has attended
Lancaster-road baths, in order to have hot baths, for some months. The homes of the children are very
overcrowded, and there is no bathing accommodation in them. When the matter was put before
the girls they were eager to go and the parents were willing for them to do so. The baths are much
appreciated by the children, who benefit by them. Plenty of hot water, a properly constructed
bath, a warm private room, are comforts they cannot have in their own homes, and strongly appeal
to girls of thirteen and fourteen years of age.
Attendance at the baths does take the girls out of school for a time, but by judicious arrangement
of the time-table, they lose as little time as possible, and the nurses have been at a great deal
of trouble to arrange for the baths to take place at a time suitable to the school. I consider the baths
of great value as a means of training in citizenship in this particular district, and I should be glad if
more children could be allowed to attend."
The number of baths arranged for under this scheme during 1920, was 6,978 in Camberwell
and 6,434 in Kensington, a total of 13,412.
Education (Provision of Meals) Act.
In the section on the results of medical inspection, it was pointed out that there has occurred
a slight deterioration in the general nutrition of the children during 1920. This deterioration is closely
followed by the increase in the number of necessitous children fed, which has grown with each succeeding
Scabies,
Use of
public washing
baths by
classes of
children
during
school hours.