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The figures show that there are many defects found in the
pre-school child which require remedial treatment, and that the
establishment of this clinic has shown its usefulness. Unfortunately
owing to the shortage of accommodation, similar clinics cannot be
established at the other centres.
The fact that we have not established Special Toddlers' Clinics
at the other centres does not mean that the pre-school child is not
catered for at all centres. As the figures show, a large percentage of
the children who attend the centres are between the ages of 1 and 5
years. Of the attendances made at the clinics during the year 2,900
of these were of children under 1 year of age and 1,358 were of
children between the ages of 1 and 5 years.
In the school report a table is given showing the number of
expectant and nursing mothers and children under school age who
were treated at the Dental, Ophthalmic and minor ailment clinics
The work done at the centres is important, but it cannot meet
unaided all the needs, or frequently, the greatest need of the children
At the centres the children are examined, and practical and export
advice is given. The health visitors do everything to adapt home
conditions to the requirements of the children, and endeavour to
see that the advice is carried out as fully as possible, but frequently
the advice is not followed for many reasons, some of them economic
others arising out of ignorance and apathy. It is not always possible
to provide the necessary food, or give the children an open-air life
and other opportunities for play and exercise.
For some of the older children the Education Committee cases
and though there is no Nursery School in the Borough, there are
8 Nursery Classes with 217 children on the registers. These classes
are popular and scattered throughout the district. The popular to
of the Nursery Classes has in no way diminished the demand for
admission into the Council's Day Nursery.