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every case where medical inspection is carried out other than upon school
premises, the consent of the Board of Education must be obtained. The Council
on 29th July, 1919, agreed to a regulation that a medical inspection room should
normally be provided in all new, remodelled and enlarged elementary schools. Since
that date the provision of medical inspection rooms has steadily been made, and at
the present time between one fifth and one quarter of the elementary schools have
been provided with medical inspection rooms.
The Council, in 1929, decided, that in all new, remodelled and enlarged schools
a hot-water installation in medical inspection rooms should be provided and that a
hot water supply should be installed in existing medical inspection rooms in the
Council's elementary schools.
Owing to the requirement that a medical inspection room should be 20 feet long
in one direction, the earlier rooms provided proved to be inconvenient owing to their
narrow width in comparison with their length. In 1931 this disadvantage was
discussed with officers of the Board of Education, and, as the result, the medical
inspection rooms designed since that date have been of a more suitable and convenient
shape. Consideration is always given in planning to the proximity of the room to a
suitable waiting space for parents. Difficulties in regard to suitable rooms for
medical inspection still chiefly arise in connection with non-provided schools.
A survey has been made of vacant classrooms in Council and non-provided
schools and a report submitted as to the possibility of using spare rooms as medical
inspection rooms at all schools not provided with such rooms, including information
as to whether a hot-water supply can be made easily available for the use of the
school doctors.
The following is the result of this survey:
Council schools.—There are at present 621 elementary, including central, schools
in the county, and 129 or 20.6 per cent. of these schools are provided with properly
equipped medical inspection rooms. The accommodation position in the remaining
schools has been reviewed, and the head teachers and the district inspectors have
been consulted with a view to the allocation of a room for medical inspection in
schools where this appears to be practicable. As a result of the enquiries made,
it appears that in 112 Council schools there are vacant classrooms which could be
converted into medical inspection rooms without difficulty, while in 11 further schools
disused staff or stock rooms could be used. Some of these schools are lighted by
electricity ; gas is also available in the room in some cases.
Where schools are lighted by gas, which obtains in most cases, it would be possible
to adapt one of the existing gas points for the supply of hot water, but heating
where electricity only is available might be more difficult.
Non-provided schools.—There are at present 363 non-provided schools within the
county and 19 of these schools or 5.2 per cent. are already provided with medical
inspection rooms. The managers of 67 schools, where it appeared from the rolls
that there were surplus classrooms, were asked if arrangements could be made for
the allocation of a room for medical inspections. From the replies it is found that
in 19 schools the managers are prepared to allocate a room for medical inspection,
but difficulties may arise in a few of these cases as the managers may require to use
the rooms for their ordinary parochial activities out of school hours. No definite
replies have been received from the managers of 4 schools where the question is still
under consideration. No action has been taken in cases where the roll is less than
100 as the cost of the special equipment of a room in such circumstances would not
appear to be justified in view of the small numbers involved.
There are, therefore, 142 rooms now available if desired for equipment as medical
inspection rooms. This number may be increased somewhat on the receipt of later
information, and having regard to the general tendency of rolls to fall, further rooms
may become available in due course.
Equipment.
The standard equipment approved for medical inspection rooms comprises:—
Weighing machine, reclining chair, table, cupboards, rug, mirror, portable lavatory
where fixed wash basin is not provided, measuring rod, American arm-chair, curtains