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87
In dealing with cases of defective eyesight it was found that
many parents pleaded poverty as the cause of not obtaining
glasses, and to meet this difficulty the Council made a grant of
£50 to defray the expense of spectacles in necessitous cases.
The parents are encouraged to contribute by small instalments,
and out of 14 cases thus arranged only live have been unable to
pay anything.
A further objection is often raised, that parents cannot afford
train fares to enable them to use hospital letters provided, or
that too much time is lost from work in taking children to the
hospital.
In September, 1910, it was decided that an oculist should be
appointed to attend once a week to treat those children who
were too poor to obtain any advice from their own medical
attendant or from hospital, and Mrs. Marshall Banham, M,B.,
Senior Clinical Ophthalmic Assistant at Moorfields Hospital was
appointed.
The examination is carried out in one of the rooms at the
Priory Offices, which has been specially fitted with an ophthalmic
lamp and dark blinds. There is accommodation for the children
and parents in one of the waiting rooms, and this arrangement
enables the work to be carried. out in a most satisfactory manner.
The following scheme of examination of eyesight is adopted.
Children who are found suffering from defective vision are given
the following notice to take to their parents
Card 3. (White)
Dear Sir or Madam,
I beg to inform you that your child
has been examined at School and he (she)
is suffering from
You are recommended to procure medical advice and treatment
without delay.