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VII. REPORT OF THE PRINCIPAL SCHOOL MEDICAL OFFICER
ON THE SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICE
The advisory services for children are continued from the infant welfare clinics in
to the schools, where the health visitors, school nurses, and medical officers, with joint
responsibility to the borough and the Inner London Education Authority, carry out regular
inspections, and assist parents and teachers with problems regarding the health and wellbeing
of the children. Ideally, these would be the health visitor and medical officer of
the clinic which the child attended from infancy, so that he met familiar faces at the
first medical examination in the new surroundings of school, but this is rarely possible
in an urban conurbation where there are several schools of choice. Changes of staff also
make this principle difficult to follow, and this applies to teachers as well as to
doctors and nurses. An experienced teacher who knows his families well, can do much to
promote their health, by bringing to the attention of the school medical officer variations
in behaviour, for which help may be given. The school medical examination, if properly
used, can do much to promote the health of the children, and bring to light significant
problems which mothers perhaps would not consider worth taking to the general practitioner's
busy surgery. The observations of the teachers who have the children in their care all day,
are invaluable in assessing a child's needs.
The Medical Officer of Health and his Deputy are also Principal and Deputy Principal
School Medical Officers, and are assisted by sessionally employed medical officers, State
registered or state enrolled nurses and some health visitors assist medical officers in
carrying out medical inspections in schools, at immunisation sessions and are responsible for
vision testing of all pupils.
Routine medical inspections are arranged as soon as possible after entry to nursery school,
infant and junior school (primary) or secondary school, and during the six months prior to
leaving school.
In addition every child between the age of 5 and 6 years is given an audiometry test for
hearing.
Special inspections are carried out at any age at request of parents, teachers, family
doctors, or school health service staff,
Vision testing is carried out at all medical inspections, including a test for colour
blindness at 11 years.
Minor ailments sessions are held at school treatment centres each weekday morning, where
schoolchildren attend to receive dressings and other treatment from the school nurse. Doctors
sessions are periodically held at the minor ailment clinics for children referred by the school
nurse.
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