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38
Pre-school
children:
co-operation
with Borough
Councils
In order to effect improvement in the pre-school care of children, particularly
of those between one and five years of age who are not under supervision by officers
of a public authority, the Ministry of Health issued Circular 1550 in May, 1936.
This circular advised maternity and child welfare authorities to make, wherever
possible, arrangements with local education authorities for children of pre.school
age to attend for the treatment of minor ailments and dental defects at the school
treatment centres.
Seven Borough Councils in London have made such arrangements with the
Council. These are Battersea, Camberwell, Finsbury, Lewisham, St. Pancras, Wandsworth
and Westminster.
Stammering children
At the ten centres for the treatment of stammerers from elementary schools a
total of 405 children attended during the year; of these, 134 were discharged as
cured, while 44, many of whom had greatly improved, left for various reasons.
The arrangements are on the following lines: (i) each child attends twice
weekly for periods of 50 minutes each; (ii) each group of children is limited to 9; and
(iii) three groups are dealt with by the same speech therapist on each half day.
The two centres for secondary school pupils at the Henry Thornton school
(south London) and the North.Western polytechnic (north London) were continued;
60 pupils attended, of whom 15 were discharged cured and 9 left.
At Salter's Hill school, 51 children from residential schools of the Council
attended a special centre. Of these, 15 were cured and 3 left.
In 1934, the speech therapists began meeting regularly once a month to exchange
views and ideas. The meetings were found to be so helpful that they have been continued
ever since. Discussions take place regarding treatment, organisation and research;
problems and experience are pooled and the meetings have proved of great
value to the individual therapists, and to the work as a whole. In June, 1937, the
meeting was thrown open to speech therapists outside London, and this extension
was so successful that these larger meetings are now a quarterly institution. They
are held on Saturday afternoons and are very well attended, not only by those who
live near London, but by many from the Midlands and the north, who are thus able
to discuss their problems and keep in touch with the work and each other.
Nominations
for
treatment
Rheumatism scheme
Dr. C. E. Thornton, who supervises the rheumatism work, under the direction of
Dr. C. J. Thomas, has prepared the following report:—
During the year, 2,367 children were nominated for institutional treatment
under the Council's rheumatism scheme, this figure being 30 fewer than the
number of nominations received during the preceding year. For various reasons
69 of these nominations were subsequently withdrawn. Of the remaining 2,298,
113 were found on medical examination to be unsuitable for treatment under the
scheme, either because of an error in diagnosis, or because they were cardiac cripples
in a stage too far advanced to derive any benefit from treatment. Those accepted
numbered 2,173, but in 114 instances the parents refused to allow the child to be
sent away. It is gratifying to note that such refusals were approximately half those
in 1936. During the year, 2,018 children were admitted to the units, and 69 were
still awaiting admission at the end of the year.
Accommodation
in
rheumatism
units
The nominal accommodation provided in the units was, at the end of the year,
900 beds, but the actual accommodation available tends to fluctuate considerably.
This is due partly to the closure of wards for structural alterations or quarantine,
and partly to the necessity at times of using the beds for other purposes. The
number of children actually under treatment in the units on 31st December, was
774. All the available beds were occupied, and there were 69 children awaiting
admission.