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 1950
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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100
The School Care Committees established in 1907 continued to play their valuable
part. The Council relied on this large voluntary organisation (to which a new constitution
was given this year) to follow up the medical recommendations and was justified
in the results, treatment being obtained in 92 per cent. of cases. Over 90 per cent.
of the medical inspections were attended by care committee workers. The number of
voluntary workers had risen steadily after the war years and this year rose from 1,600
to over 2,000.
The social work in connection with the treatment centres continued to be carried
out by the children's care organisation and enabled the care committees to do their
valuable and constructive case work, which brought them into close contact with the
families needing their help and guidance.
Pupils on school rolls
At the end of 1950 there were 283,878 children of primary and secondary school
age in county schools and 97,007 children in voluntary or associated schools making
a total of 380,885 pupils.
Medical Inspections
The following table summarises the medical inspections made during the year
compared with the three previous years :■—
| 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| Nursery | 7,074 | 4.9 | 8,953 | 5.7 | 10,021 | 6.2 | 11,294 | 6.5 |
| Entrants | 33,439 | 23.3 | 37,793 | 23.8 | 40,287 | 24.8 | 41,598 | 24.1 |
| 7 years old | 26,046 | 18.2 | 26,222 | 16.5 | 29,541 | 18.2 | 32,607 | 18.9 |
| 11 years old | 28,556 | 19.9 | 32,961 | 20.8 | 31,725 | 19.6 | 33,037 | 19.2 |
| Leavers | 6.433(a) | 4.5 | 26,817 | 16.9 | 26,382 | 16.3 | 27,464 | 15.9 |
| Other ages | 40,516 | 28.2 | 23,558 | 14.9 | 22,115 | 13.6 | 23,742 | 13.8 |
| Special schools | 1,203 | 0.8 | 1,581 | 1.0 | 1,633 | 1.0 | 2,143 | 1.3 |
| Training colleges | 268 | 0.2 | 648 | 0.4 | 465 | 0.3 | 543 | 0.3 |
| Total | 143,535 | 1000 | 158,533 | 1000 | 162,169 | 1000 | 172,428 | 100 0 |
| Special inspections† | 101,707 | — | 107,844 | — | 110,026 | — | 119,901 | _ |
| Re-inspections | 84,227 | — | 88,243 | — | 87,915 | — | 106,350 | — |
| Residential schools | (b) | — | 7,920 | — | 9,845 | — | 10,441 | — |
| Total | 185,934 | — | 204,007 | — | 207,786 | — | 236,692 | — |
| Grand Total | 329.469 | — | 362,540 | — | 369,955 | — | 409,120 | — |
(a) School leaving age raised.
(b) Not recorded prior to 1948.
tThese 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.
The volume of work carried out by the school health service on medical inspections
in 1950 showed an increase on the other post-war years. Comparison of routine and
other inspections with the school populations for these years is shown below. Although
duplication between routine and special examinations and re-inspections of children