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(d) Visual Defects and External Eye Eye Disease.—Details of the findings at routine
and special inspections will be found on pages 126 and 127 of this Report. It will be
seen that 534 children were referred for treatment for defective vision (including
squint). In addition 347 children were found to require treatment for external eye
conditions.
The findings of the medical inspections, so far as the condition of the eyes is
concerned, are hardly comparable over a number of years. When eye work was
first undertaken in Barking, refraction was carried out in a dark corner of the
stairs of the old Town Hall, which had been standing for hundreds of years.
Naturally only the more pressing cases were dealt with. As the years went by it
was possible to deal with more cases because more suitable accommodation was
available, and with the appointment of an ophthalmic surgeon of consultant rank
we shall be able to deal, locally, with a wider variety of cases than heretofore.
With increasing facilities for treatment we naturally include those cases which in
the early years were looked upon as minor ones. Our experience has shown that
it is these minor cases which pay very well for treatment.
(e) Nose and Throat Defects.—I am happy to report a reduction in the number
of cases of tonsils and adenoids which routine examinations have found to need
treatment. 794 children were found at routine and special inspections who
required treatment for nose and throat defects, as against 913 in 1933.
Once again I claim that one year's findings are not sufficient to form an
opinion but I do believe that on the whole we are accepting a sounder conception
of what constitutes an enlarged tonsil from the standpoint of requiring treatment.
I have deprecated the wholesale slaughter of tonsils and have advised you repeatedly
about the care we have taken in Barking to avoid unnecessary operations. After
being seen by at least one doctor children are sent to see a surgeon, but only in
the first instance for his opinion as to the necessity for treatment.
I do not believe that the improved statistics imply any radical change in the
conditions of the noses and throats of your children but I do think it represents an
improved standard of diagnosis amongst professional men who deal with these
matters.
(f) Ear Disease and Defective Hearing.—The number of cases of ear disease found
at routine medical inspection does not show any significant variation from the figures
for 1933.
(g) Dental Defects.—Dental defects are noted by the School Medical Officers at
routine medical inspection, the notice of the Dental Surgeons being drawn to urgent
cases. Cases requiring the teeth made regular or straight or other special treatment
are also referred to the School Dentist. The report of the School Dental Surgeon
will be found on pages 122 to 124 of this report.