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The last examination prior to school leaving is an important one,
and this year we have tried to increase its value in two main ways.
Firstly, the Youth Employment Officer talked to the Medical Officers
and answered questions put by them. We hope that as a result the
confidential school leaving medical reports will be enhanced in value
and minimize the risk of a child entering employment unsuited to
his health. Secondly, I arranged to send to the family doctor of each
school leaver a note drawing his attention to the fact that the child
would no longer receive regular medical supervision under the school
system, mentioning any serious illnesses or handicaps from which he
had suffered, and offering to send to the doctor all our medical records
if he wished for them.
General Condition
A member of the Committee for Education drew attention to an
apparent discrepancy in the proportions of school entrants placed in
nutritional (or more accurately "general condition") categories in two
successive quarterly statistical reports. The figures to which he
referred were as follows:—
2nd quarter 3rd quarter
A 526 97
General
condition
B 133 239
C 12
He very rightly asked whether this indicated a sudden and alarming
drop in the health of children entering school. I felt quite certain
that this was not the explanation, and ventured the opinion that the
difference might be due largely to the fact that different doctors had
carried out examinations in this particular age group in the two
quarters. I am afraid I failed to convince many members of the
difficulties in accurately classifying children into such vague groups.
and that it should not surprise them if two or more perfectly competent
doctors were to place the same child in different "nutritional" groups.
Following this we worked out the averages for the six medical officers
over a period of approximately eighteen months. The figures art
revealing:—
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