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122
Annual Report of the London County Council, 1912.
consultative committees, and the Children's Care (Central) Sub-Committee of the Education Committee
of the Council. The local associations are grouped in 12 educational administrative areas, and the school
correspondents act as clerks and accounting officers. In connection with the organisation and maintenance
of care committees, the Council employs a staff of paid organisers, who act as intermediaries
between the Council and these committees, and whose duties include attendance at all the meetings of
the local associations, and at meetings of school care committees when specially desired.
During the year 1912, one half of the time of one of the principal organisers of children's care
work, and the whole of the time of one of the district organisers, was placed at the disposal of the
Public Health Department, and, as a temporary measure, the entire organising staff continued to perform
its existing duties in connection with medical treatment, the directions with regard to this work being
given by the school medical officer. The decision of the Council to allow a care committee representative
to be present in the inspection room when the children are inspected has placed care committees in a
better position to give suitable advice to parents and to facilitate the obtaining of treatment for the
children. The "following up" arrangements have also been improved by the adoption of a special card
which is now kept at the school for each child found to require medical treatment. Upon this card the
school doctors enter particulars of the defects found at the inspection, the care committees record the
various stages in respect of treatment and the school doctors note results of their reinspection. Each
case is thus kept before the school care committee until finally discharged by the school doctor. The
variations made in the arrangements for "following up" and the extension of the facilities for treatment
have thrown a considerable amount of extra Work unon the school care committees.
Co-operation
with after
care
associations.
The reports of the school doctors upon older children prove to be of great assistance to those
engaged in the after care of the children and arrangements have been made whereby the material facts
in the medical record are placed upon the "school leaving" form which is sent to the Secretary of the
Juvenile Advisory Committee working in connection with the local Labour Exchange. In addition
a large number of special examinations of leavers are carried out at the request of care committees and
these requests are sometimes made at the instance of the secretaries of the Juvenile Advisory Committees.
In accordance with an instruction of the Children's Care (Central) Sub-Committee, a memorandum has
been drawn up and issued for the guidance of children's care (school) committees, showing the disabilities
from a medical point of view, attaching to certain employments. The need has been greatly felt for
pamphlets dealing with health and personal hygiene drawn up in simple language for distribution
to parents. The " Health Hints " formerly issued have been revised, and sections dealing with the
care of the teeth, discharging ears and ringworm added.
Infectious
diseases.
The question of the control of infectious disease has been facilitated by the establishment of the
four local offices. A greater measure of co-operation with local authorities has been secured, and in
addition to this more elasticity has been given to the arrangements for medical inspection and reinspection
with a view to ascertaining the results of treatment. In fact, without some such system, it would be
impossible for the school medical officer properly to control the work being done in the more remote
portions of the county, or to secure uniformity of method, a matter of considerable importance in drawing
conclusions from the results obtained by such a large number of investigators. The present arrangement
has, moreover, enabled a larger number of bacteriological examinations to be made. Formerly, all the
necessary preliminary work in connection with suspected cases of disease was done at the central offices.
Although the general control of infectious disease is still exercised centrally, preliminary investigations
are made locally, and culture tubes are forwarded to the Council's bacteriologist, who is thus able to
devote more attention to his legitimate duty.
Cleansing
and personal
hygiene.
It is not possible here to enumerate all the activities of the department, of which details will be
found in their appropriate places in the following report, but the extension of the cleansing scheme is
worthy of mention. Previously to 1902, nurses supplied by voluntary associations had visited some
few schools in connection with the personal hygiene of the scholars, but in that year a paid
ringworm nurse was appointed by the late education authority, the London School Board. In 1903,
three additional ringworm nurses were appointed, and in the summer of 1904 the London County
Council increased the number to 12. At the same time, the duties of the nurses were extended to include
attention to personal cleanliness as well as ringworm. During successive years increases were made
from time to time, until at the end of 1912 there were 22 nurses engaged on work arising out of the
cleaising scheme.
In the early days considerable difficulty was experienced in obtaining facilities for cleansing,
inasmuch as only four borough councils had made suitable provision for children under the Cleansing
of Persons Act, 1897, but after the passing of the Council's General Powers Act, 1907, and the Children
Act, 1908, both of which gave special powers in connection with the cleansing of children, the Council
took active steps to secure adequate provision for cleansing. Thus, at the end of 1911, agreements
for this purpose had been made with nine borough councils, and the Council had itself established cleansing
stations at four schools. During that year, of 251,592 examinations made, in 14,893 the child was in a
verminous condition; 3,682 children were cleansed at the Council's stations, and 1,517 at stations
belonging to local sanitary authorities; whilst 4,976 children were cleansed by the parents. At the end
of 1912, in addition to the Council's four stations, agreements had been made with sixteen borough
councils, and with the committee of St. Cecilia's House.
During the year, of 630,369 examinations made, in 23,573 the child was verminous,
10,179 children were cleansed by the Council and the borough councils, and 10,348 by the parents.
These results are very satisfactory, and though the effect of the awakening of parental responsibility
upon the general health of the children cannot be precisely estimated, there is direct evidence that the
children are cleaner and better clad.