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73
STAFF MEDICAL SERVICE
A medical suite is provided in the Health Department at the City Hall and is staffed by a Principal
Medical Officer and a trained nurse. First aid is available for any member of the staff in City Hall
and arrangements are made as necessary for patients to be referred to their own general practitioners
or to hospitals.
The system of physical medical examination prior to entry to the Council's service has been
replaced by a medical questionnaire, a medical examination only being necessary in cases in which
there is any doubt or matters which need to be further considered. It is of interest to note that out of
1,280 medical questionnaires scrutinised by the Principal Medical Officer during 1968, in only 120
cases was it necessary to call the patient for interview and examination.
Medical examinations are also undertaken in regard to extended sick leave of members of the
City Council's staff, some who unfortunately have to be retired on grounds of permanent ill-health,
and in respect of parking meter exemptions. The extension of parking meter areas to other parts of
Westminster has inevitably resulted in a larger number of applications for exemption from the
charges made.
Medical examinations of certain categories of staff, such as drivers and sewermen, are carried
out as a routine measure at entry to the Council's service and are repeated at regular intervals
thereafter.
As a matter of mutual convenience, arrangements also exist to medically examine persons who
are joining local authorities in various parts of the country and thus obviate their having to travel
long distances again after the initial interview and appointment; the City Council obtains a reciprocal
service from other authorities.
Statistics relating to work undertaken in the medical suite during 1968 are set out in Table 48,
page 103.
SCHOOL HEALTH
Section 30 of the London Government Act 1963, places the responsibility for providing a school
health service upon the Inner London Education Authority; the day to day operation of the service
in Westminster is my concern as Principal School Medical Officer. For its efficient and economical
working, arrangements were made under the provisions of the Act for the joint use by the City
Council and the Authority of professional, administrative and clerical staff and premises. The
following report to the Inner London Education Authority was submitted in respect of the school
health service for the year 1968.
In addition to the usual arrangements made for sessions in schools to cover health surveys,
medical inspections, special medical examinations, re-inspections and school journeys, attention
is drawn to the following special features:—
Educationally subnormal children—Six medical officers are approved to undertake the statutory
examination of children who are reported to be educationally subnormal. During the year 92
children were examined and 48 of these were ascertained to be educationally subnormal and
recommended for placement in E.S.N. schools. Twenty-eight were admitted to such schools.
A further 20 of the children examined were deemed unsuitable for education at school and
recommended for places in training centres.
Special Investigation Clinics—Children who require a longer time and more privacy than is
available at school medical inspections are referred to Special Investigation Clinics where a social
worker attends with a doctor. Any necessary social work in the home is carried out by the social
worker. Seven special investigation clinics are held each week in Westminster and in 1968 there
were 128 new referrals and a total of 561 attendances.
Vision Clinics—The commonest defect found at school medical examinations are errors of
refraction. Children with visual defects are referred to special ophthalmological sessions. Three
such sessions are held weekly in Westminster, two at school treatment centres and one at the
Western Ophthalmic Hospital, Marylebone Road, N.W.1.
I record with regret the untimely death of the Ophthalmologist at Lisson Grove Vision clinic.
Temporary replacements have been provided by the Regional Hospital Board but no permanent
appointment has so far been made. This has meant that the number of children treated has decreased.