London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1932
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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and 32 in places of safety awaiting action. During the year 1,241 cases were examined with the following results:—
| Sex | Case classification | Feeble minded | Imbecile | Idiot | Morally defective | Not defective | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children | Adults | Children | Adults | Children | Adults | Children | Adults | Children 1 | Adults | Children | Adults | ||
| Male | Ordinary cases | 31 | 49 | 92 | 3 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 9 | 135 | 62 | |
| Special school leavers | 239 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | _ | 239 | _ | |
| Public assistance cases | 4 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | __ | 2 | 4 | 1? | 25 | |
| Casual ward cases | _ | 12 | — | — | — | 66 | 78 | ||||||
| General hospital cases | 1 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | _ | 10 | 21 | |
| Sections 8 & 9 of M.D. Acts | 11 | 51 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | 1 | 12 | 55 | |
| Female | Ordinary cases | 24 | 84 | 96 | 6 | 9 | _ | _ | __ | 8 | 24 | 137 | 114 |
| Special school leavers | 205 | _ | _ | — | _ | — | — | _ | _ | _ | 205 | ||
| Public assistance cases | — | 39 | 2 | 5 | — | 1 | — | — | — | 8 | 2 | 53 | |
| Casual ward cases | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | — | — | _ | 6 | _ | 6 | |
| General hospital cases | 3 | 15 | 8 | 6 | 4 | — | — | — | 2 | 9 | 17 | 30 | |
| Sections 8 & 9 of M.D. Acts | — | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | — | 28 | |
| Total | 518 | 311 | 208 | 24 | 20 | 3 | — | 3 | 23 | 131 | 769 | 472 | |
| 829 | 232 | 23 | 3 | 154 | 1,241 | ||||||||
Casual wards.
During the year, in addition to regular monthly visits to the casual wards,
certifying officers under the Mental Deficiency Acts were called upon to see special
cases on 21 occasions. The total number of cases inspected was 658. Of these 84
were examined in detail, and the number deemed to be mentally defective was 12.
In a number of cases advice was given regarding special treatment, viz. :—
4 cases were offered facilities for the remedial treatment of stammering, and 1 case
for lip-reading; arrangements were made for 2 cases to be seen by the Council's
aurist; 3 cases were referred to observation wards ; while in 14 other cases various
forms of training or treatment were recommended.
Blind
training, etc.
Blind Persons Act, 1920.
The work of revising the register of blind persons has been continued in accordance
with the scheme approved by the Council in July, 1931. One of the provisions of
this scheme was that no person's name should be finally entered on the register until
he had been examined and certified to be blind within the meaning of the Blind
Persons Act, 1920, by a medical practitioner with special experience in ophthalmology.
In addition the certification of workshop employees has been carried out
as in rirevious vears.
The following table shows the number of cases considered and the recommendations made
| Description. | Registration of the blind. | Training of the blind. | Total. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. | F. | M. | F. | ||
| (1) Applicants who were examined and were certified as blind | 638 | 633 | 41 | 21 | 1,333 |
| (2) Acceptance of certificates issued bv hospital and private doctors | 286 | 282 | — | — | 568 |
| (3) Applicants who were examined and not certified as blind | 89 | 91 | 11 | 6 | 197 |
| (4) Found blind but unfit for training | — | — | — | 5* | 5* |
| (5) Previously certified as blind and found fit for training | — | _ | 16 | 4 | 20 |
| (6) Previously certified as blind and found unfit for training | — | — | 1 | — | 1 |
| Total | 1,013 | 1,006 | 69 | 31 | 2,119 |
* Included in (1) above.
In addition to the numbers in the above statement 33 applications for examination
were withdrawn.