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 1937
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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The following statement gives an analysis of the 278 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 37
| Morbid conditions | Elementary school | Invalided |
|---|---|---|
| Infantile paralysis | 6 | 3 |
| Cerebral paralysis | 2 | 3 |
| Various paralyses | 1 | 2 |
| Tuberculosis of bones and joints | 6 | 1 |
| Osteomyelitis | 10 | 5 |
| Rickets and resulting deformities | — | — |
| Congenital deformities (including dwarfism) | 14 | 4 |
| Spinal deformities (including scoliosis) | 5 | 1 |
| Traumata and amputations | 8 | 3 |
| Non-tuberculous arthritis and synovitis | 1 | 1 |
| Rheumatism and chorea | 21 | 2 |
| Various chest conditions—fibrosis, bronchitis, asthma | 41 | 7 |
| Heart diseases— | ||
| Congenital | 16 | 3 |
| Acquired valvular— | ||
| with history of rheumatism | 34 | 9 |
| without history of rheumatism | 1 | — |
| Non-valvular— | ||
| with history of rheumatism | 1 | — |
| without history of rheumatism | 1 | — |
| Anaemia | 13 | — |
| Pseudo-hypertrophic muscular dystrophy | — | 2 |
| Various nervous conditions, ataxia, etc | 3 | — |
| Other diseases—chiefly medical | 35 | 13 |
| Total | 219 | 59 |
Children
returned
to elementary
schools or
invalided
Rota visits to
the schools
The special schools were visited at least once a quarter, and every child present
was examined at least once during the year. The total number of examinations made
was 14,159, and in addition 694 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 38
| 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 | Swanley eye hospital | |
| Physically defective | — | 8 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | — | 1 |
| Mentally defective | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 7 |
| Partially sighted | 1 | 2 | — | 14 | — | — | 3 | — | 2 |
| Blind | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Deaf | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Partially deaf | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
After trial in a special school, 85 children were excluded (28 as imbecile, 33 as
feeble-minded ineducable, 1 as "special circumstances," and 2 as feeble-minded
"detrimental," and 21 invalided on medical grounds).