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 1964
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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The following table shows the percentage of children of all ages noted for treatment or observation of the defects listed for the years 1961 to 1964. These percentages remain fairly stable over the period but some variations of detail will be noted.
| 1961 | 1962 | 1963* | 1964 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Numbers examined | 163,598 | 164,056 | 155,503 | 155,273 |
| Skin diseases | 1.19 | 114 | 1.17 | 1.18 |
| External eye diseases | 0.54 | 0.48 | 0.51 | 0.41 |
| Defective hearing | 0.90 | 0.99 | 1.05 | 1.15 |
| Otitis media | 0.51 | 0.49 | 0.49 | 0.54 |
| Enlarged tonsils and adenoids | 3.59 | 3.72 | 3.65 | 3.57 |
| Defective speech | 0.87 | 0.89 | 0.95 | 1.00 |
| Enlarged cervical glands | 0.63 | 0.65 | 0.60 | |
| Heart and circulation | 0.87 | 0.86 | 0.94 | 1.00 |
| Lung disease (not T.B.) | 1.21 | 1.25 | 1.40 | 1.46 |
| Orthopaedic defects | 3.52 | 3.31 | 3.39 | 3.00 |
| Defects of nervous system | 0.43 | 0.43 | 0.46 | 0.56 |
| Psychological defects | 1.08 | 1.06 | 1.44 | 1.42 |
| Anaemia | 0.12 | 0.11 | 0.12 | 0.13 |
| Enuresis | 1.77 | 1.96 | 2.28 | 2. 41 |
* Details of children examined at age seven under the experimental selective arrangements have now been
included in this column although omitted from the corresponding table in the Report for 1963.
Attendance of parents and care committee representatives at periodic inspections—The
percentage of medical inspections at which a parent is present decreases as children get
older. The overall percentage was 50.9, slightly higher than in 1963 when it was 49.6 per cent.
Care committee representatives attended 85.0 per cent. of all periodic general inspections.
In the infant and junior school age groups the figure was over 90 per cent. but only about
76 per cent. in the secondary school age groups. This was probably the result of a shortage
of care committee workers in some large secondary schools.
| Age group | Number of pupils inspected | Parent present | Care committee representative present at inspection |
|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | ||
| 4 or less | 8,166 | 93.3 | 80.5 |
| 5 | 28,667 | 86.7 | 92.7 |
| 6 | 10,778 | 78.4 | 94.4 |
| 7 | 9,300 | 70.9 | 91.8 |
| 8 | 20,501 | 69.4 | 94.6 |
| 9 | 5,655 | 61.7 | 94.0 |
| 10 | 2,525 | 52.0 | 92.4 |
| 11 | 11,502 | 36.2 | 74.9 |
| 12 | 16,954 | 29.6 | 79.6 |
| 13 | 5,496 | 24.0 | 82.7 |
| 14 | 4,508 | 9.8 | 81.6 |
| 15 | 31,221 | 5.0 | 73.1 |