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 1946
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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73
At the end of 1946, there were 12 special classes for speech defects conducted by
part-time speech therapists under the supervision of a principal assistant medical
officer.
During the year, 456 individual children attended the classes ; 56 were discharged
as cured or greatly improved, 71 left for various reasons, many of whom were improved,
and the remainder were still under treatment at the end of the year.
The number of artificial limbs provided for school children at Queen Mary's
Hospital, Roehampton, was 18, in addition to 3 supplied through voluntary hospitals.
Speech
therapy
Artificial
limbs
In patients.
The following summarises the school pupils treated as in-patients in the Council's and E.M.S. hospitals in the year 1945-46 :—
| Hospitals | No. of children treated | Total days | Average no. under treatment | Average stay (days) | Long stay (over 8 weeks) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L.C.C. acute general hospitals | 10,805 | 144,750 | 396.5 | 13.3 | 338 |
| L.C.C. convalescent fever hospitals | 955 | 15,207 | 41.6 | 15.9 | 40 |
| L.C.C. children's hospital schools | 1,867 | 178,082 | 487.9 | 95.4 | 1,086 |
| E.M.S. hospitals | 539 | 14,919 | 40.8 | 41.5 | 130 |
| Total | 14,049 | 354,373 | 970.0 | 25.0 | 1,602 |
Ascertainment of pupils needing special education
Children numbering 4,806 were examined as to their being in need of special
education. Of this number it was found that 4,012 were in need of it.
The division between the various categories of handicapped children was:—
| Blind | 5 |
| Partially sighted | 84 |
| Deaf | 63 |
| Partially deaf | 45 |
| Physically handicapped | 724 |
| Educationally subnormal | 1,381 |
| Epileptic | 30 |
| Diabetic | 10 |
| Maladjusted | 129 |
| Delicate | 1,131 |
| Speech defects | 410 |
In addition, 218 children were reported to the mental health authority as being
ineducable.
Of the children attending and examined in special schools, 77 physically handicapped
and 8 educationally sub-normal were found to be no longer in need of special
education and were able to return to ordinary schools.
During the year, 1 deaf child. 58 physically handicapped, and 7 educationally
subnormal children at or over 14 years of age were released from further attendance
at schools as being no longer in need of special educational treatment.
Accommodation
for
handicapped
children
In addition to 58 day special schools in London the Council has the following residential special school accommodation (the blind and deaf residential schools have also accommodation for day pupils):—
| Defect | No. of schools | Accommodation Residential | Day | Boys | Girls | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blind | 1 | 40 | 40 | 80 | * | ||
| Deaf | 3 | 1 | 60 | 30 | 90 | _ | |
| 1 | 38 | 38 | _ | 76 | |||
| 1 plus other defects | 69 | — | 35 | 34 | |||
| Physically handicapped | 2 | 1 | 72 | — | 72 | — | |
| 1 | 45 | — | — | 45 | |||
| Delicate | 6 | 497 | — | 277 | 192† | ||
| Epileptic | 1 | 28 | — | 14 | 14 | ||
| Diabetic | 1 | 50 | 25 | 25 | |||
* Girls at present sent to non-Council schools.
† Plus 28 infants.