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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In addition to the children in the Council's own residential special schools,
there were some 626 handicapped children of all categories in non-Council residential
schools.
The hospitals division of the Public Health Department arranges for children
recovering from illness, operation, etc., to be sent to convalescent homes for periods
up to 8 weeks, and also administers the Council's 6 hospitals for children requiring
medical treatment and who receive education when declared fit for it by the medical
staff. At the end of 1946 there were 962 children on the school rolls in these hospitals.
There are eight residential schools for children committed to the care of the
Council under the Poor Law Acts, with accommodation for about 3,000 children.
A visiting medical officer attends each day and when necessary, and examines
all children on entry, before discharge and at such other times as are prescribed by
the Council. A dental surgeon is appointed to visit and undertake all dental treatment
of the children resident in the schools, and at each school there are at least two
resident school nurses.
Periodical visits are made by senior medical and nursing officers from the County
Hall.
During the year under review, an invitation was received from two Swiss
organisations, the Don Suisse and the Secours Suisse aux Enfants, for about 200
delicate children to spend six months in a children's home at Adelboden. The
children were selected from those attending the Council's schools for the delicate
or on the waiting lists for admission to those schools.
Residential
schools
Visit of delicate
children
to Switzerland
| Number in attendance on selected day | Number who had dinner | Number who had milk— one-third pint free | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Paying | |||
| Primary | 198,960 | 8,030 | 77,927 | 191,706 |
| Secondary | 97,576 | 2,620 | 52,929 | 84,516 |
| 10,650 | 130,856 | |||
| Total | 296,536 | 141,506 | 276,222 | |
The percentage of children in attendance (primary and secondary) who received
meals was 47.72 compared with 45.09 in June, 1946, when the last return was made.
Since 6th August, 1946, milk in schools has been free, but, by order of the Minister
of Education, it is restricted at present to one-third of a pint each child a day except
in the case of the children ascertained to be "delicate" each of whom gets 2/3 of a pint
of milk each day. The return shows that the vast majority of the children in primary
and secondary schools are having this one-third pint of milk every day. The exact
percentage is 93.14 compared with only 65.5 per cent. in June, 1946, when the milk
had to be paid for.