View report page

below, and for a nurse to sit behind the child with a light so that the
doctor could shine the light back into the child's eyes.
From these lowly beginnings an Eye Service developed which is
now on a firm footing, and to-day our Clinics are specially fitted up for this
work.
In the year 1935 the Council appointed Mr. Adamson Gray, F.R.C.S.,
a Consultant Specialist in eyes. He remained with us for twelve years and
under his care we developed a service in all respects comparable with any
Out-Patient Service which could be obtained at a Special Eye Hospital or
at a Specialist Department of any General Hospital. What was more,
whereas at these hospitals a person may have seen a relatively junior doctor,
in Barking the whole of the work was undertaken by Mr. Gray himself.
As the volume of the work has increased it has been found necessary
—at least for a time—for some of the less exacting work to be undertaken
by a medical practitioner with special experience in eyes but, nevertheless,
not of full consultant rank, and having regard to the manpower available,
particularly now that throughout the whole country people are making
more demands upon this service we shall, I think, have to continue this
practice.
These services were developed at a time when I was firmly convinced
that only the best was good enough for our children. I hear to-day of
alternative arrangements, but I still hold the view that the examination
of children's eyes deserves the very best that we can give; that it is a
part of medical examination, and that this work can only properly be
carried out where you have a Consultant Specialist to direct it, and medical
practitioners with special experience in eye work to help.
I want to strike a note of definite warning with regard to children
who squint. The treatment of these is likely to be long; it is time-
consuming, and because so many
of the children are quite small
it means that the time of the
mother is taken up as well as the
time of the child, but it is well
worth while particularly if we get
the children young enough, and
I am happy to be able to record
that children are coming to the
Orthoptic (or Squint Training)
Clinic in increasing numbers
before they are five years of age.
OPHTHALMIC CLINIC
Consulting Ophthalmic Specialist :
Mr. R. Jamieson
Number of sessions held: 262
Number of new cases treated
for errors of refraction
(including squint) 487
Total number of attendances 2,536
ORTHOPTIC CLINIC
Number of sessions held 505
Total number of attendances 2,521
Now, although it may hurt
some parents to read these words,
I must put it on record that many children who squint have a lazy eye,
which is often associated with a lazy mind, and that the treatment of
squint is not only a question of eye training, but also a question of
mind training.
Page 8