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Working party on school health service
A working party of teachers and officers of the Education and Public Health departments
was set up in 1959 with the following terms of reference:
'To review the requirements of the school health service (including the dental service)
with special reference to its effect on the educational work of schools and its demands on
their staffs, teaching and non.teaching; and to recommend any means whereby essential
health services may operate with minimum interference with school work and calls upon
staff'.
The pattern of medical inspection work had been reviewed by the departmental committee
on school medical inspections (see pages 106 to 110 of my report for 1958), and
the working party was therefore concerned with the practical details of the work in the
schools.
The working party reported in the autumn of 1960 with a number of recommendations
for reducing the upset caused by the requirements of the school health service on the work
of the schools. These recommendations were accepted by the Education Committee, who
decided that a letter should be sent to the head of every school conveying the views of the
working party on how, by attention to a number of details, this reduction could be achieved.
In addition the recommendations dealt, inter alia, with arrangements for securing that
children were completely protected by immunisation before entry to school; increased
'helper' assistance in primary schools; the provision of 'general assistantswith first aid
qualifications, in large secondary schools; clinic appointments at times which least interfered
with school hours, etc.
There is no doubt that the full implementation of the various recommendations made
by this working party should benefit the relationships between the schools and the school
health service.
The School Physician's Handbook
In any large organisation the problem of communications is a very real one. As an
illustration of the size of the problem in London, it may be mentioned that when the medical
inspection arrangements were reviewed in 1958 it was necessary to apprise over 5,000
people of the nature of and reasons for the changes. This was the total number of school
physicians, school health visitors, head teachers and care committee workers whose
day.to.day duties were affected. An associated problem is that of the induction of new
staff, a particularly acute one in these days when there is a rapid turn.over.
It was in this context and to improve communications, that during 1960 the School
Physician's Handbook was issued. The concept was that of a loose.leaf pocket book, to
facilitate revision of sections, containing succinct guidance on the administrative procedures
and complexity of forms used in the school health service. The handbook has been favourably
commented upon outside the Council's service. *
Medical treatment of schoolchildren
Organisation—My report for 1954, page 94, referred to an experimental withdrawal of
assistant organisers of children's care work from certain school medical treatment sessions.
By 1959 these social workers had been withdrawn from the majority of doctors' minor
ailment sessions, and an experiment was being carried out in their withdrawal from certain
vision sessions. By 1960, these latter trials having established the practicability of the
scheme, it was decided to withdraw the organisers from all vision sessions held in Council
premises. Savings in such professional workers' time are relevant to the terms of the
Younghusband Report (see Appendix A to my report for 1959) and have permitted the
re.deployment of the organisers, who are trained social workers, in fields such as social
casework with problem families; with home bound children; at day schools for the
maladjusted, etc.
*See Medical Officer, page 109, 12 August, 1960.
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