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or delivery of goods or parcels, 503 (11) ; in or in connection with a shop, 297 (3) ;
in a coal yard, 4; industrial work at home, 1 ; house work away from home, 31 ;
as a messenger, 47 (1); not stated, 29. 145 boys and two girls were granted certificates
in respect of two or more occupations.
Certificates were refused on medical grounds in the cases of 87 boys and one
girl. In 210 cases the certificates were granted subject to medical treatment being
obtained and in 148 additional cases other conditions were imposed. In 18 cases
the provisional certificates were withdrawn on account of the non-compliance with
the conditions under which the certificate was issued.
School
children
employed in
entertainments.
The number of children examined under the regulations governing the employment
of children in entertainments was 184. Girls outnumbered boys by 164 to 20.
Four children, all girls, were rejected on medical grounds, two with scabies,
one with bronchial catarrh and one for instability and backwardness. Twenty-five
girls and five boys were referred for treatment in the first instance and given certificates
of fitness at a subsequent medical examination. The conditions for which they
were referred were—Boys : visual defect 3, personal hygiene 1, general condition 1 ;
Girls : dental decay 10, heart 1, throat 2, personal hygiene 2, visual defect 7, scabies
1, bronchial catarrh 1, otorrhcea 1.
Medical Treatment.
The end of the year 1929 marks the completion of eighteen years' administration
of the medical treatment scheme as at present constituted. Having regard to the
vast increase of work to be assumed as from 1st April, 1930, it may be convenient,
without anticipating any change of policy, here to give a brief resume of what has
been already accomplished.
The scheme began tentatively in January, 1910, when arrangements were made
with six hospitals for the treatment of some 26,000 children a year, but at this time
there was no dental treatment. First appointments were made from the head office,
the hospital assuming the whole of the responsibility for the completion of treatment.
There was no following-up, and the claim of the hospital for the capitation payment
was the only source of information as to whether a child had been treated or not.
The difficulty of the position caused the London Hospital in February, 1911, to ask
the Council for an officer to visit the hospital to regulate the attendance of the
children. This duty was undertaken by one of the organisers of children's care work.
The arrangement was so successful that it was extended to other hospitals.
The 1st of January, 1912, marked the inauguration of a new era in medical treatment,
when the whole of the school medical work, including the arrangements for the
attendance of children and the supervision of treatment, was placed under the
direction of the county medical officer. During the years 1912 and 1913, the system
begun at the London Hospital in 1911 was continued under the direction of the medical
officer and was extended to cover all the treatment arrangements of the Council.
In the course of development it has resulted that the school care committees advised
by the Council's organisers are in a position to note the course of treatment step by
step to a successful conclusion. The immense benefit that this arrangement has
been to the harmonious working of the treatment scheme is reflected in the very
high percentage of treated cases.
Almost at the inception of the treatment scheme it was found that the London
hospitals were quite overwhelmed by the mass of work involved in the treatment of
defects revealed by school medical inspection and it was decided to supplement their
aid by the establishment of school treatment centres, institutions founded and
managed by local voluntary committees for the treatment of children's ailments
only. The Board of Education looked upon the proposal with some misgiving,
but after a conference in May, 1912, with members of the Council and representatives
of local committees of medical practitioners it was found possible to devise
conditions of agreement which met the approval of the Board. From the point of