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

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London County Council 1934

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

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9
The results of medical inspection in 1934.
The year showed great activity in medical inspection. The change in the
statutory age groups to be examined foreshadowed in the last report took effect in
January,
Age
groups.
In order to secure a better distribution over school life of the incidence of routine
medical inspections, and to bring them into organic relation with the great periods of
educational change under the Hadow reorganisation scheme, the examination at age
8 was altered to examination at age 7, and that at age 12 to examination at age 11.
The routine groups to be examined thus became (i) on entrance, (ii) at age 7
(corresponding to the transference from infants' to junior departments), (iii) at age
11 (corresponding to the transference from junior to senior departments), and (iv)
before leaving at approximately age 13½.
As the sudden alteration from age 8 to age 7 would leave a group of children
unexamined between entrance and age 11, in which case this group would have suffered
unduly, it was decided that a "preliminary survey" should be made of the whole of
the 8-year-old group during which vision testing, examination of the teeth and noting
of any obvious defects would be carried out, while those children, who during the
survey were considered to need detailed examination, were to be submitted to a
complete examination in the usual way, after invitation to the parents to attend.
Only after the completion of the 8-year-old group in this manner was the detailed
examination of the new 7-year-old group to be begun. It was considered that the
change over from age 8 to age 7 would take about five years. Much greater progress
with the change over was effected than was anticipated, thanks to the energy which
all concerned put into the work; and, instead of only a fifth of the seven-year-old
group coming under examination as was anticipated, well over a third were completed;
and this in spite of the fact that an abnormally large leaver group was due
for examination and completed during the year. At this rate the change over
should be completed within 3 years instead of the 5 years originally contemplated.
In view of the special character of the examination of the 8-year-old-group, the
results of their inspection will be separately treated in the following analysis of the
results. In accordance with the precedent of previous years, the results of inspection
of the leaver group will also be separately analysed.
The number of elementary school children examined in the three statutory
age groups (entrants, children aged 7 and children aged 11) during the year 1934
was 138,549. These were made up of 58,638 entrants, 26,359 children aged 7, and
53,552 children aged 11.
The children aged 8 coming under preliminary survey by the school doctors was
47,001, of whom 3,739 were referred for detailed examination. In addition, 63,633
children were examined in detail in the term prior to that in which they were due
to leave school, and 1,593 children in special schools were examined on reaching
their respective age groups.
The leaver group was by far the largest age group of children inspected during
recent years, being 7,000 more than in 1933, itself a heavy year.
In addition to routine groups, children referred by nurses, school teachers, care
committee workers, divisional officers, etc., for examination for special reasons
numbered 91,880; and 44,197 were examined in connection with outbreaks of
infectious disease.
The total inspections amounted to 386,858, which represents an increase on the
numbers in the previous year, namely 377,167. To this must be added the children,
146,620 in number, who were re-inspected because of some previously noted defect.
As inspections of all kinds and re-inspections totalled no less than 533,478 it is
clear that, although some duplicate inspections are included, very few indeed of