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No medical, dental, nursing or clerical staff
has been transferred to the Evacuation Reception Areas; no
requests for such transfers were received from Reception
Areas during 1939.
During the latter part of the year, immediately
subsequent to the Declaration of War, all the members of
the staff were designated to posts in connection with Civil
Defence, but math the consequent re-organisation of the
School Medical Services the staff has been released from
Civil Defence work. The majority, however, continue to
take their parts in the Civil Defence Scheme, on a voluntary
basis.
(2) EVACUATION.
At the outbreak of war 8,039 Barking schoolchildren
were evacuated to areas of greater safety. The
arrangements for the evacuation of these children were
conducted by the Barking Education Authority as a unit of
the London County Council's Scheme, and the staff of your
School Medical Services accorded every possible co-operation.
The children attending the Faircross Special School
were dealt with separately - the mentally defectives and the
physically defectives going to different centres. These
centres were adapted to meet the particular needs of these
special children.
The physically defective children were accompanied
by your Senior Masseuse and the mentally defective children
were accompanied by one of your School Nurses. These
Officers only remained in the Reception Areas for a few days.
Later on in the year, visits were paid by members
of the Council and its Officers to the Reception Areas.
These visits were much appreciated by the Reception
Authorities, and although much could be written upon the
observations made as a result of these visits, it is
proposed merely to say that undoubtedly Reception Authorities
were faced with far greater problems than were the
Authorities in the Evacuation Areas, and that unquestionably
these problems will be discussed in detail in the Annual
Reports of the Medical Officers for the districts concerned,
if indeed they are not discussed before, at special
meetings called for the purpose of co-ordinating the
various schemes.
I should, however, like to mention the general
tribute which has been paid by visitors to the Reception
Areas to the admirable way in which these Areas have
tackled the problems arising from the sudden influx of
evacuated people thereto.
The first Evacuation Plan made no provision for
the special medical examination of children before
departure to the Reception Areas, but in Barking arrangements
were made for your Health Visitors & School Nurses
to be present at entraining stations, for the purpose of
giving treatments for minor injuries, cuts, sores and
bruises etc.
Subsequently, the closest co-operation has been
established with the School Medical Authorities in the
various Reception Areas, and some hundreds of school
medical inspection records have been temporarily transferred.
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