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 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Table II
| roup | Number of children inspected | A (Excellent) | B (Normal) | C (Slightly subnormal) | D (Bad) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Percentage | No. | Percentage | No. | Percentage | No. | Percentage | ||
| Entrants | 47,301 | 7,229 | 15.28 | 37,017 | 78.26 | 3,020 | 6.39 | 35 | 0.07 |
| Age 7 years | 39,044 | 5,291 | 13.55 | 30,336 | 77.70 | 3,379 | 8.65 | 38 | 0.10 |
| „ 11 | 41,576 | 6,460 | 15.54 | 32,308 | 77.71 | 2,794 | 6.72 | 14 | 0.03 |
| „ 13¾(leavers) | 42,074 | 8,626 | 20.50 | 31,569 | 75.03 | 1,866 | 4.44 | 13 | 0.03 |
| Total, elementary | 169,995 | 27,606 | 16.24 | 131,230 | 77.20 | 11,059 | 6.50 | 100 | 0.06 |
| „ special sc. | 975 | 95 | 9.74 | 799 | 81.95 | 81 | 8.31 | 0 | 0.00 |
Table III
| Classification | At certified special schools | At public elementary schools | At other institutions* | At no school or institution | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blind children | 113 | – | 1 | 1† | 115 |
| Partially sighted children | 489 | 21 | – | – | 510 |
| Deaf children | 435 | – | 4 | 2‡ | 441 |
| Partially deaf children | 136 | 3 | 4 | – | 143 |
| Mentally defective children— | |||||
| Feeble-minded children | 2,825 | – | 22 | 6** | 2,853 |
| Epileptio children— | |||||
| Children suffering from severe | |||||
| epilepsy | 85 | – | 6 | – | 91 |
| Physically defective children— | |||||
| Tuberculous children— | |||||
| Pulmonary | 378 | – | 36 | – | 414 |
| Non-pulmonary | 525 | – | 15 | – | 540 |
| Delicate children | 2,361 | 5,721|| | 9 | – | 8,091 |
| Crippled children | 1,791†† | – | 20 | – | 1,811 |
| Children with heart disease | 1,805 | – | 19 | – | 1,824 |
* Undergoing treatment in general hospitals, etc.
† Under instruction at home.
‡ 1 under enforceable age and 1 under instruction at home,
†† Includes 10 children at Northern Hospital (post-encephalitis lethargica) and also non-cardiac cases
of chorea, rheumatism, etc.
|| Of these 48 children were suitable for admission to open-air schools (O) but their parents refused
to allow their transfer to such schools or the children were awaiting admission. The
remainder could not be certified as incapable by reason of physical defect of receiving proper
benefit from instruction in the ordinary public elementary schools, but they might have
benefited from a period of open-air treatment.
** Two under instruction at home and four under enforceable age.
Table III
| Delect | Type of school | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day M.D. | Residential P.D. | Residential deaf | Epileptic colony | Day P.D. | Certified hospital schls. | At other institutions | Total | |
| M.D. and deaf | 2 | – | 24 | – | – | – | – | 26 |
| M.D. and crippled | 26 | 1 | – | – | 8 | 1 | – | 36 |
| M.D. and heart | 25 | – | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 29 |
| M.D. and epileptic | 17 | – | – | 23 | – | – | – | 40 |
| M.D. and T.B. | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| M.D., crippled and deaf | – | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | 4 |
| Deaf and crippled | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | 2 |
| Blind M.D., and crippled | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| Epileptic and crippled | – | – | – | 4 | – | – | – | 4 |
| Heart and crippled | – | 1 | – | – | 15 | – | – | 16 |
| Total | 70 | 2 | 30 | 27 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 159 |