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 1957
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Choice of employment Pupils advised, at their 'school leavers' general medical inspection, against particular forms of employment formed 13.9 per cent. of all leavers examined. The following table gives the main contra-indications disclosed:
| Contra-indications | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| Occupations involving : | ||
| Heavy manual work | 287 | 158 |
| Sedentary work | 21 | 8 |
| Indoor work | 7 | 3 |
| Exposure to bad weather | 139 | 94 |
| Wide changes of temperature | 68 | 45 |
| Work in damp atmosphere | 77 | 85 |
| Work in dusty atmosphere | 142 | 49 |
| Much stooping | 29 | 32 |
| Climbing | 67 | 48 |
| Work near moving machinery or moving vehicles | 72 | 56 |
| Prolonged standing, much walking or quick movement from place to place | 118 | 126 |
| Eye strain | 651 | 839 |
| Normal vision | 817 | 629 |
| Normal colour vision | 400 | 3 |
| Normal use of hands | 24 | 11 |
| Exposure of hands to moisture, chemicals, etc. | 41 | 28 |
| Handling or preparation of food | 87 | 116 |
| Normal hearing | 83 | 46 |
School Treatment Centres At the end of the year there were 113 school treatment centres, 93 run directly by the Council and 20 by voluntary committees. The following table shows the number of clinics available in school treatment centres for the treatment of each defect (these numbers do not include sessions held in hospital premises) :
| Type of clinic | |
|---|---|
| Minor Ailments (doctors' sessions) | 86 |
| *Dental | 68 |
| †Vision | 43 |
| †Orthoptic | 15 |
| †Ear, Nose and Throat | 8 |
| Audiology | 11 |
| †Speech Therapy | 41 |
| †Enuresis | 1 |
| Special Investigation | 41 |
| †Rheumatism (Supervisory) | 9 |
* Several of these are twin surgeries.
†Specialists provided in most cases by regional hospital boards.
‡In addition to 27 in day E.S.N., 12 in day P.H., and 9 in boarding schools. (Speech therapy is, technically, ' special
educational treatment').
Treatment Statistics The numbers of sessions, new cases and total attendances at school children's clinics during 1957 were as follows (including sessions held in hospital premises) :
| Type of clinic | Sessions | New cases | Attendances |
|---|---|---|---|
| *Vision | 5,091 | 35,648 | 88,011 |
| *Orthoptic | 2,120 | 1,110 | 8,618 |
| *Ear, nose and throat | 789 | 3,871 | 9,685 |
| Audiology | 294 | 1,077 | 3,032 |
| Minor ailments (doctor) | 2,843 | 45,565 | 641,337 |
| Minor ailments (nurse) | 25,719 | 92,346 | |
| Dental | 33,435 | 102,568 | 308,862 |
| *Rheumatism (supervisory) | 482 | 329 | 3,174 |
| *Enuresis | 353 | 454 | 2,890 |
| Special investigation | 2,012 | 1,745 | 14,341 |
*Hospital and specialist services provided by boards of governors or regional hospital boards.
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