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 1945
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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55
Lethane "384 special" is now commonly used for dealing with verminous
heads, but towards the end of the year satisfactory results were obtained from the
experimental use of a 2 per cent. D.D.T. emulsion. Benzyl-benzoate is still the main
treatment agency for scabies.
Cleansing
agents
Handicapped children
In December, 1945, 53 special schools for handicapped children were functioning in
London. Children numbering 2,277 were examined in London or in the reception
areas as to their being in need of special education. Of this number, it was advised
that 1,540 were in need of special educational treatment. The division between
the various categories of handicap was as follows: blind, 7; partially sighted, 96;
deaf, 54; partially deaf, 27; physically handicapped, 627; educationally subnormal,
698; epileptic, 31. In addition, a few children were found to be suffering
from diabetes, 8 were considered to be maladjusted and 228 were provided with
special training and treatment in respect of speech defects. Of the children attending
and seen in special schools, excluding the special schools for delicate children, and
the special parties for handicapped children, 87 were sufficiently improved to
justify return to ordinary school instruction, and 83 children over 14 years of age
were released as being no longer in need of special educational treatment.
The number of London children accommodated in the Council's hospital schools
at the end of December, 1945, was 1,096.
Steps were taken during the year to renew provision in London of special
education for delicate children. By December, 1945, there were eight special day
schools for these children, with accommodation of 960 places, compared with fifteen
schools and accommodation for 1,975 children in 1938. In addition, six residential
special schools for delicate children needing a stay of about three months or more in
seaside or country surroundings, were brought into commission, with a total accommodation
of 474 places.
Provision of meals
The education officer has supplied the following information :—
The numbers of children provided with school meals and milk in primary and secondary schools and junior technical institutes in London on a typical school day in June, 1945, were as follows:—
| Type of school | No. in attendance on selected day | Number who had dinner | Number who had milk | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/3pint | 2/3pint | ||||||
| Free | Paying | Free | Paying | Free | Paying | ||
| Primary | 173,008 | 3,734 | 57,000 | 981 | 29,260 | 5,359 | 87,811 |
| Secondary | 45,072 | 483 | 20,949 | 76 | 15,549 | 655 | 8,931 |
| Junior technical schools | 5,366 | 38 | 2,917 | 3 | 2,401 | — | 320 |
| Total | 223,446 | 4,255 | 80,866 | 1,060 | 47,210 | 6,014 | 97,062 |
| 85,121 | 151,346 | ||||||
In addition, 2,197 children attending day special schools and 246 in day continuation
schools had school dinner, making a total of 87,564 pupils having school
dinner on the selected day. Of these, only a few hundreds were supplied by independent
canteens, the remainder being supplied by the Meals Services Department
and the Rest Centre Service.
The percentages of the number of children in attendance who had school meals and milk were:—
| Meals | Milk | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | 31.52 | 71.33 |
| Secondary | 47.55 | 55.93 |