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 1952
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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service and the children's care organisation. The wide scope of this type of work is well exemplified by the report of the work of the organisers attached to Guy's Hospital, of which the following is a summary:
| Department | New cases | Attendances |
|---|---|---|
| Children's | 344 | 1,249 |
| Ear, Nose and Throat | 454 | 750 |
| Vision | 224 | 1,610 |
| Orthoptic | 98 | 810 |
| Orthopædic | 134 | 294 |
| Skin | 204 | 474 |
The total attendances of school pupils in departments of this hospital covered by the
organisers was 6,645.
The following table summarises the numbers of clinics for school pupils held in hospitals in association with the Council's treatment scheme:
| Children's Medical | 9 | Enuresis | 6 |
| Minor Ailments | 1 | Rheumatism | 10 |
| Dental | 1 | Nutrition | 1 |
| Eyes | 13 | Skin | 1 |
| Ear, Nose and Throat | 19 | Orthopaedic | 1 |
Children were also referred to 23 child guidance units at hospitals and clinics within
the national health service, but organisers do not attend these clinics.
Treatment
statistics
The Ministry of Education annual returns call for information on all treatment known
to have been provided, whether by the Council or otherwise. From what has been said
above it will be clear that all treatment statistics are essentially incomplete. No figures
are available from general medical or dental practitioners or from opticians. No figures
are available from the many hospitals that have no direct link with the Council's
organisers. Even at some of the co-operating hospitals, the medical records and documentation
adopted by the hospital, for the purposes of their own returns to the Ministry of
Health, do not enable separate figures for the L.C.C. school pupils to be extracted. Great
caution should therefore be exercised before attempting to draw any conclusions about
the incidence of defects or the extent to which treatment has been obtained, from the
figures that follow. An additional point in this connection is that the function of certain
clinics has developed and changed, and the compilation of statistics lags behind these
changes. For example, 'special investigations' were not separable from 'enuresis' until
halfway through the year.
Type of clinic 1949 1950 1951 1952
*Vision New Cases 32,292 32,462 34,231 35,649
Attendances 79,777 85,364 86,758 91,693
*Orthoptic New Cases — 942 1,435 1,401
Attendances — 12,745 15,385 15,784
*Ear, Nose and Throat New Cases 5,749 6,974 7,289 7,769
Attendances 14,815 15,138 16,565 17,408
Audiology New Cases — — — 1,206
Attendances — — — 2,407
Minor Ailments New Cases 171,731 163,658 155,080 151,903
Attendances 1,002,051 1,014,155 1,005,549 954,532
Dental New Cases 102,495 82,650 82,564 93,823
Attendances 203,523 166,874 172,063 202,571
*Rheumatism New Cases 1,375 1,224 1,100 971
Attendances 10,887 10,088 9,202 7,988
Nutrition New Cases 1,222 1,350 1,380 1,151
Attendances 9,420 10,067 10,984 11,162
Special Investigation New Cases — — — 590
Attendances — — — 3,027
*Enuresis New Cases 830 911 1,267 952
Attendances 3,977 5,110 6,344 5,449
*Hospital and specialist services provided by boards of governors or regional hospital boards.