London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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London County Council 1929

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]

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31
Lewisham occupation centres, £153 each; for the Hackney and Southwark
classes for elder girls and young women, £165 each ; and for the Camberwell
and Shoreditch craft centres for boys 16 to 18 years of age, £265 each. The
increase of £1,249 was accounted for mainly by the addition of six new centres.
The actual payment made by the Council to the Association in respect of occupation
and industrial centres during the financial year 1929-30 was £3,115 13s. 10d., which
was less by £57 6s. 2d. than the maximum grant voted. This was because the actual
expenditure incurred in respect of the Hackney and Southwark centres did not
reach the maximum amounts voted by the Council in respect of those centres. The
grant in respect of occupation centres for children covers the provision at the Agnes
Western whole-time centre and at each of the part-time centres of one guide, and
at the Hackney and Southwark whole-time centres of two guides each, to escort
certain children on their journeys to and from the centres, and to assist the supervisors
during the sessions. Payment in respect of two London children who attend the
Willesden centre was made at the rate of £5 a year for each case.
30. For the year ended 31st March, 1930, a supplementary grant to the London
Association not to exceed £910 was voted by the Council, to cover the cost of
employing additional guides. The amount of the grant actually made for this
purpose was £725 3s. 7d.
31. During the year the Council considered the possibility of utilising the
motor vehicles used to convey defective children to and from the Council's special
schools, to convey children to and from occupation centres, instead of employing
guides as escorts. At the end of the year, however, a final decision in this matter
had not been reached.
32. The cost to the Council for the financial year ended 31st March, 1930, for
each defective attending a centre or class (taking the average of actual attendances)
was approximately £25 a year.
33. During 1929, a medical examination of the defectives in attendance at
the occupation centres for children was carried out by assistant medical officers in
the public health department, in accordance with an arrangement details of which
were set out in the Annual Report for 1928 (Vol. II., p. 32).
34. The medical officers examined 154 children of ages ranging from 6 to
16 years ; 89 were boys and 65 girls. At a large percentage of the examinations the
parent of the child was present. In clothing, cleanliness and nutrition the children
were up to the standard of the elementarv schools.

35. The following table summarises the defects which required treatment and compares the frequency of such defects with those found in the elementary schools as a whole during the year. Table 4.

Defects.Children at the centres.Children at elementary schools. Percentage.
Number.Percentage.
Teeth4026030.4
Vision74.510.9
Nose and throat31.95.7
Eye disease, including squint138.41.2
Discharging ears31.90.7
Skin disease10.60.6
Rickets and deformities31.90.5
Other defects63.93.6

36. In addition to the above, 53 defects (not serious enough to require treatment)
were noted, and 3 children were reported to be inarticulate.
Additional
guides.
Conveyance
of children
to and from
centres.
Per capital
cost.
Medical
inspection
and treatment.
Number
examined.
Number
requiring
treatment.
Cases not
treated.