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 1934
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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64
Children
returned
to elementary
schools or
invalided.
The following statement gives an analysis of the 397 cases examined for
admission to special schools for the physically defective, as a result of which the
children were either returned to elementary schools or were invalided as for the
time unfit for any school:—
Table 38.
| Morbid conditions. | Elementary school. | Invalided. |
|---|---|---|
| Infantile paralysis | 8 | 4 |
| Cerebral paralysis | 5 | 5 |
| Various paralyses | 9 | 8 |
| Tuberculosis of bones and joints | 16 | 4 |
| Osteomyelitis | 7 | 1 |
| Rickets and resulting deformities | 5 | — |
| Congenital deformities | 6 | 1 |
| Scoliosis | 4 | 1 |
| Traumata and amputations | 18 | 6 |
| Non-tuberculous arthritis and synovitis | 4 | - |
| Rheumatism and chorea | 47 | 6 |
| Various chest conditions—fibrosis, bronchitis, asthma | 31 | 8 |
| Heart diseases— | ||
| Congenital | 14 | 6 |
| Acquired valvular | 75 | 19 |
| Non-valvular | 19 | 7 |
| Anæmia | 16 | 1 |
| Pseudo-hypertrophic muscular dystrophy | 1 | 2 |
| Various nervous conditions, ataxia, etc. | 3 | 1 |
| Other diseases—chiefly medical | 19 | 10 |
| Total | 307 | 90 |
Rota visits to
the schools.
The special schools were visited at least once a quarter, and every child present
was seen at least once during the year. The total number of examinations made was
16,159, and in addition 601 special examinations were made of children already on
the rolls of special schools in connection with applications for non-enforcement of
attendance and for similar reasons. As a result of the rota examinations the
following re-classifications took place:—
Table 39.
| Transferred from schools for | Re-classified for transfer to— | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P.D. school. | M.D. School. | Partially sighted school. | Blind school. | Deaf school. | Partially deaf school. | Open- air school. | Epileptic colony. | |
| Physically defective | 13 | 1 | 6 | 4 | ||||
| Mentally defective | — | - | 2 | - | - | 1 | - | - |
| Partially sighted | 1 | 2 | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| Blind | - | - | 14 | - | - | - | - | |
| Deaf | — | - | 1 | - | — | 4 | — | - |
| Partially deaf | - | - | - | - | 8 | - | - | |
After trial in a special school, 78 children were excluded (39 as imbecile, 16 as
feeble-minded ineducable, 4 as "special circumstances" and 5 as feeble minded
"detrimental") and 18 were invalided on medical grounds.