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prescribed by a hospital or private doctor to be effectually carried out. Very little
progress was made in actual cures until the Board of Education, in August, 1907, agreed
to recognise this school as a ' special school' under the Elementary Education (Defective
and Epileptic Children) Act, 1899, as this gave the Council power to carry out treatment
of the children. In May, 1908, an X-ray apparatus was installed, and thenceforward the
cases were cured with comparative rapidity. By the summer holidays, 1909, only three
cases remained uncured and the school was closed as a teaching centre. With one
exception, all the children treated were of alien descent.
With a view to preventing the further ingress of favus into the country through the
Port of London by immigrants, the Public Health Department worked in co-operation
with the Medical Officer to the Port of London Authority and London Immigration
Board.
Medical inspection and treatment
In 1905, without waiting for legal powers (which it was clear would shortly be enacted)
school medical inspection was started and in January, 1906, a complete system of medical
supervision was extended to all the non-provided schools, and large numbers of children
who should have been in special schools were discovered. Section 13 of the Education
(Administrative Provisions) Act, 1907, provided that ' the powers and duties of a local
education authority under Part III of the Education Act, 1902, shall include—(b) the duty
to provide for the medical inspection of children immediately before, or at the time of,
or as soon as possible after their admission to a public elementary school, and on such
other occasions as the Board of Education direct.'
With the inauguration of a scheme of medical inspection it soon became evident that
there was need for further facilities for treatment of some of the ailments discovered.
As the result of inspection the numbers of children attending the hospitals were so
seriously increased that many of the larger hospitals were compelled to limit the
attendance of school children to certain numbers of children to be seen on any appointed
day.
In the introduction to the Annual Report of the Medical Officer (Education) for the
year 1907, it was stated that a point had been reached when it had to be decided whether
the greater part of the medical inspection work should remain fruitless or whether the
Council should take steps which would justify its later interference to see that its younger
dependents had a fair chance of benefiting properly from the education offered.
On 25th July, 1911, the Council resolved that school medical work, including
medical treatment, should be placed under a new Medical Officer of Health to be
appointed, who should also be the Medical Officer and on 1st January, 1912, Sir
William Hamer became both Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer.
Early
developments
A Special Sub-Committee on the Treatment of School Children was appointed in
July, 1907, which included thirteen representatives of the Council and representatives
of outside interests such as the chief medical bodies, hospitals and charities. The SubCommittee
reported that the resources of the hospitals were inadequate and recommended
that agreements should be made with existing voluntary bodies, including
hospitals, and that, where these arrangements were not sufficient, the provision of
voluntary school treatment centres should be stimulated. Dr. Kerr was not wholeheartedly
a supporter of the voluntary system, and it was not until 1910 that (a) the
Council made arrangements with six hospitals about the treatment of children and
(b) two treatment centres were opened, the first in July at Hampstead, on the premises
of the Kilburn Provident Medical Institute and the second in September at Norwood.
A third treatment centre was opened in Wandsworth in January, 1911.
Under the arrangements made the hospitals assumed the whole of the responsibility
for treatment. No arrangements were made for after-care, and the only information
concerning children who had ceased attendance before treatment was completed was
received as an accompaniment to the claim for payment, and was too late to be of
service. The difficulty of the position caused the London Hospital, in February, 1911,
177
M*
Treatment at
hospitals and
voluntary
school
treatment
centres