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 1949
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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| 1938 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| Nursery | (a) | — | 7,074 | 4.9 | 8,953 | 5.7 | 10,021 | 6.2 |
| Entrants | 47,301 | 25.3 | 33,439 | 23.3 | 37,793 | 23.8 | 40,287 | 24.8 |
| 7 years old | 39,044 | 20.9 | 26,046 | 18.2 | 26,222 | 16.5 | 29,541 | 18.2 |
| 11 years old | 41,576 | 22.2 | 28,556 | 19.9 | 32,961 | 20.8 | 31,725 | 19.6 |
| Leavers | 42,074 | 22.5 | 6,433(b) | 4.5 | 26,817 | 16.9 | 26,382 | 16.3 |
| Other ages | — | — | 40,516 | 28.2 | 23,558 | 14.9 | 22,115 | 13.6 |
| Higher Education | 16,208 | 8.6 | (c) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Special schools | 975 | 0.5 | 1,203 | 0.8 | 1,581 | 1.0 | 1,633 | 1.0 |
| Training colleges | Nil | — | 268 | 0.2 | 648 | 0.4 | 465 | 0.3 |
| Total | 187,178 | 100.0 | 143,535 | 100.0 | 158,533 | 100.0 | 162,169 | 100.0 |
| Special inspections† | 170,682* | — | 101,707* | — | 107,844* | — | 110,026 | — |
| Re-inspections | 132,240 | — | 84,227 | — | 88,243 | — | 87,915 | — |
| Residential schools | (d) | — | — | 7,920 | — | 9,845 | — | |
| Total | 302,922 | — | 185,934 | — | 204,007 | — | 207,786 | — |
| Grand total | 490,100 | — | 329,469 | — | 362,540 | — | 369,955 | — |
(a) Nursery children recorded separately only from 1946.
(b) School leaving age raised in this year.
(c) Now included in the "Leavers" and "Other Ages" groups.
(d) Not recorded before 1948.
*As the 1949 figure does not include inspections at rheumatism supervisory centres, special ear clinics, vision centres
and nutrition centres, the figures for 1938, 1947 and 1948 have been amended accordingly.
†These are non-routine inspections of a miscellaneous nature and include pupils urgently brought to the attention
of the school doctor, inspections for employment certificates, for school journeys and holiday camps, admissions to special
schools and periodical inspections of handicapped pupils (for their special defect), etc.
Although the volume of work carried out by the school health service on
medical inspections in 1949 showed an overall increase on 1947 and 1948, it was still
below the pre-war level. On comparing the number of routine and other inspections
with the school populations for these years the ratio of routine inspections is found
to be fairly constant but the proportion of non-routine inspections has fallen
considerably:—
1938 1947 1948 1949
School population 457,000 353,000 373,000 379,792
Routine inspections 187,178 143,535 158,533 162,169
Percentage 41.0 40.7 42.5 42.7
Other inspections 302,922 185,934 204,007 207,786
Percentage 66.3 52.7 54.7 54.7