London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Barking 1940
[Report of the School Medical Officer for Barking]
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(b) Ophthalmic Service. This service has
carried on throughout 1946, mostly with 2 or 3
sessions a week - some held at Woodward Clinic, and
come at Central Clinic.
Actually 82 sessions we re held in all during
the year, and the following table gives a rough
summary of work done.
TREATMENT OF DEFECTIVE VISION AND SQUINT.
(Excluding Minor Byo Defects treated as Minor Ailmonts).
| Number of Defects dealt with | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under the Authority' s Scheme. | Otherwise. | Totals | |||||||
| 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | |
| Errors of refraction (including squint). | 1045 | 758 | 525 | 21 | 3 | 48 | 1066 | 761 | 573 |
| Other Defects or Disease of the Eyes (excluding those recorded in Group I) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| TOTALS | 1045 | 758 | 525 | 21 | 3 | 48 | 1066 | 761 | 573 |
| Number of children for whom spectacles were:- | |||||||||
| (a) Prescribed | 387 | 255 | 271 | 18 | 3 | 38 | 405 | 258 | 309 |
| (b) Obtained | 394 | 262 | 284 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 412 | 265 | 288 |
During 1940 we were still sending spectacles to the
Reception areas in cases where the children had been refracted
away from Barking and the parents wished to obtain spectacles
from Barking at special contract prices or, in necessitous
cases, free of charge. The total number of spectaclcs thus
supplied was 49.
Squint training has been resumed and 126 sessions
were held during the year. A considerable amount of
valuable work was done there as will be seen by the following
table.
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