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SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICE
The work of the school health service was maintained and expanded
during 1956. Routine medical inspections continue to prove of real value
and much appreciated by parents who attend in such large numbers.
It is important to bear in mind that the health-assessment and healthpromoting
functions of these examinations are at least as important as
the discovery of defects.
This year was the first full year of the B.C.G. (anti-tuberculosis campaign)
and the good response of parents seen in 1955 was well maintained.
The orthoptic clinic, opened at Lordship Lane in June 1956, has filled
a great need for the people of Tottenham saving much time and expense
for parents who formerly took the children to hospital. The clinic was
inaugurated with six sessions weekly and has expanded to nine sessions.
Extension of the work of the Cerebral Palsy Unit at Vale Road School
for the Physically Handicapped is mentioned later in the report. During
the previous year the Minister of Health gave approval to the diagnostic
and advisory functions of this unit being extended to pre-school children
under Section 22 of the National Health Service Act.
General Health and Infectious Diseases
The health of the school population was in general well maintained
during 1956 as is shown in the following table. The general condition
of pupils is now classified as "satisfactory" and "unsatisfactory" and
not as "A", "B" or "C", the classification used heretofore. This new
assessment must be regarded as an improvement; the noting of a child
as unsatisfactory is an immediate stimulus to action by the doctor and
health visitor concerned to take steps to see that the child is restored to
optimum health.