View report page

Question:—Are the long waiting lists for the removal of
tonsils and adenoids having a harmful effect on children's
health ?
Answer:—The answer to this question is, I believe to be, " Yes,"
but it is not Yes in every case.
TREATMENT OF EAR, NOSE
AND THROAT DEFECTS AT
SPECIALIST'S CLINIC
Consulting Ear, Nose and Throat
Specialist :
Mr. Courtenay Mason, F.R.C.S.
Number of sessions 48
Total number of attendances 856
OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF
EAR, NOSE AND THROAT
DEFECTS
Number of children who
received operative treatment 320
Where the tonsils are themselves
diseased, or where they are
obstructive and prevent the proper
development of the chest, every
month that they are left in when
they should be out is hindering the
growth and development of the
child, and although the child
will improve considerably after
the operation is performed, we
have no reason to believe this
improvement will ever quite
make up the normal development
which would have taken
place if these diseased or obstructive
tonsils had been dealt
with.
In 1949 over a thousand schoolchildren received treatment
at the Orthopa:dic Clinic. Is this not rather high for a school
population of only twelve to thirteen thousand ?
The answer is definitely No.
There can be no doubt that everybody tends to cut a garment
according to the cloth, and where there are no proper arrangements for the
treatment of orthopaedic cases the doctors and nurses, whilst striving
might and main to get the major cases dealt with, find it utterly futile and
a waste of paper, pen and ink, to try to get the minor cases treated.
ORTHOPEDIC CLINIC
Consultations
Number of new cases seen by
Orthopedic Surgeon 92
Number of re-examinations by
Orthopaedic Surgeon 57
Treatments
Total number of attendances
for U.V.L. treatment 1,598
Total number of attendances
for other treatment 3,871
It is only when a service
is set up and going that you
can find out what is the real
demand.
What I want to stress is
that from the standpoint of the
welfare of the child, whilst it is
very important to look after the
major defects it is even more
important to look after the many
minor defects.
There is the possibility that
owing to the war and to the constantly changing school population of
Page 9