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69
But the conditions at the Children's Hospital are very dif
ferent to those in the house in question. In a hospital the nurses
are fully trained and appreciate the value of asepsis and antisepsis.
Here the majority of the nurses were being trained and had onlybeen
a short time in the institution.
But of more importance is the question of floor space allowed
to each child. The superficial floor space at hospitals allowed to
each child is at least 30 square feet, here it was little more than
half of that. Although there was no legal overcrowding, neither
the superficial nor the cubic space was comparable to that allowed
in a hospital, and there were 30 children and 19 nurses living in
the house.
Under the Children's Act, the Guardians have power to fix
the number of children allowed in such institutions, and I understand
that the responsible officer has fixed the number so as to
allow a floor area of 30 square feet for each cot.
MORTALITY BETWEEN 1-5 YEARS OF AGE.
89 deaths occurred in children between the ages of 1 and 5
years, and though this age-period is one of the most important
in the life of the child, it is the period when least supervision is
exercised. By means of the Notification of Births Act, a child is
brought at birth to the cognisance of the Health Department, and
a systematic supervision of the first year of life is an established
fact. At the age of 5 the child comes under the supervision of
the School Medical Service, and remains until he reaches the ages
of 13 or 14. Of course, we are only referring to a portion of the
industrial part of the community when we say that the children are
brought under the supervision of the Health Visitor, but it may be
stated that practically no provision has been made in the past
for the supervision of any children between the ages of 1 and 5
years. In last year's school report it was pointed out that during
the medical inspection of infants who are newly admitted to school
it is regrettable to find that certain complaints may already have
become chronic at the beginning of school life. This is specially
the case in the poorer parts of the district, and refers to such