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50
REPORT ON THE SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICE
DURING THE YEAR 1951.
To the Chairman and Members of the Welfare and School
Attendance Sub-Committee.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present my annual report for
the year 1951.
The continued shortage of dental staff has continued
to militate against the maintenance of the high standard
of dental care of our school children to which we had
become accustomed in past years. The old method of
routine dental inspection followed by treatment has been
disturbed and the dental surgeons are more and more
concerned in trying to catch up with arrears of work and
in treating cases of acute toothache. There is at present,
therefore, no real systematic supervision of the dental
health of the school children as a priority class. At the
time of writing there does seem to be a slight tendency foxdentists
to return to the local authority dental service as
a result of the diminishing demand from the adult population
and the new charges for dental treatment imposed
under recent health legislation. The plans for an additional
dental clinic at Murchison Avenue have not been
included in the County estimates for 1952/53 on the
grounds of economy but the matter is still being pursued
and it is hoped that this addition to the school dentai
service in the Borough may come to fruition in the
following year or that, alternatively, a suitable clinic
will be provided in adapted premises, as an interim
measure.
During the year, the Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic at
Little Danson Clinic was closed down and provision for
treatment was made at the West Hill Hospital by arrangement
with the Dartford Group Hospital Management
Committee. This resulted, in the first place, in considerable
delay in the treatment of school children as well as
some difficulty in their follow-up treatment. The position
has now been improved by the provision of additional
out-patient facilities for school children at this hospital
and it may be taken that, generally speaking, the facilities
for ear nose and throat treatment are reasonably
satisfactory.
Owing to the opening of Hillsgrove School in 1950
an additional minor ailment clinic was established at the
Wrotham Road Clinic to cater for the children attending
this school and for those children attending the East