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
Beckenham 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Beckenham]
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REPORT ON BECKENHAM ORTHOPAEDIC CLINIC
Year ended 31 /12 /38
By H. J. Seddon, F.R.C.S.
The following summary shows the work of this Clinic during 1938, and the comparative figures are given for the preceding years :
| Half-day Sessions | Total attendances. | Surgeons Examinations. | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New cases. | Re-examinations. | |||||||||||||
| Year. | held. | School. | Infants. | School. | Infants. | School. | Infants. | |||||||
| 1936 | 354 | 3,133 | 798 | 110 | 46 | 608 | 214 | |||||||
| 1937 | 340 | 2,263 | 912 | 102 | 43 | 557 | 240 | |||||||
| 1938 | 343 | 1,877 | 390 | 139 | 74 | 539 | 197 | |||||||
| Treatment by Nurse. | Electrical and | |||||||||||||
| Massage. | Exercises. | other Treatments. | Fees paid. | |||||||||||
| Year. | School. | Infants. | School. | Infants. | School. | Infants. | s. | d. | ||||||
| 1936 | 305 | 412 | 1,921 | 3 | 230 | 131 | 31 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| 1937 | 231 | 372 | 1,127 | 75 | 376 | 233 | 30 | 5 | 2 | |||||
| 1938 | 383 | 174 | 1,086 | 55 | 515 | 166 | 25 | 4 | 1 | |||||
213 children attended as new cases and the diagnoses are tabulated below, In twenty-one cases the diagnosis appears under more than one heading :—
| Classification | No. of Cases | |
|---|---|---|
| No. | Condition. | |
| 1. | Congenital Deformities | 26 |
| 2. | Birth Injuries | — |
| 3. | Rickety Deformities | 12 |
| 4. | Knock Knees (non rickety) | 48 |
| 4 a. | Bow Legs (non rickety) | 9 |
| 5. | Postural Defects | 35 |
| 6. | Structural Curvature | 1 |
| 7. | Flat Foot, Pes Cavus, Hallux Ridigus and Foot Strain | 66 |
| 8. | Infantile Paralysis | 8 |
| 9. | Sequelae of other Acute Fevers | 1 |
| 10. | Fractures and other injuries | 3 |
| 11. | Other Bone Disease (non-tuberculous) | 1 |
| 12. | Osteomyelitis | 5 |
| 13. | Other conditions including intoeing (see details below) | 1 |
| 14. | Non-Orthopaedic | 12 |
| 15. | Diagnosis Uncertain | 3 |
| 16. | Diagnosis not Recorded | 8 |
| Total | 234* | |
*Twenty-one cases appear under combined headings:—
*1 and 4: 5 cases; 1 and 7: 1 case; 1 and 14: 1 case; 3, 7 and 15: 1 case;
4 and 4a: 1 case; 4 and 5: 1 case; 4 and 7: 4 cases; 4 and 8: 1 case;
4 and 14: 1 case; 5 and 7: 1 case; 5 and 14: 1 case; 7 and 13: 1 case;
7 and 15: 1 case.
72