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education has become, with the passage of time, what has
been well called " a periodic health audit of the whole child "
which is taken to mean not only the physical aspects of
health, but his mental and personality aspects as well. It
will be evident that, in recent years, our conception of health
has widened considerably and, as has been said elsewhere
in this report, higher levels of health are being sought which
are linked up, not merely with the discovery of overt disease
but with the functional wholeness of the child and his ability
to make the best use of his natural endowments and his
educational opportunities.
It follows from this that greater emphasis must, nowadays,
be placed on the psychological health of the child, and
this is well exemplified in a report which I have received
from one of our medical officers. " Work in the Minor
Ailment Clinic in this area, during the last year, has been
remarkable for the shift of emphasis from physical disease
to psychosomatic disorders and overt behaviour problems
which now account for about 75% of the time spent there.
The change is thought to be due to the increased awareness
on the part of parents and teachers to the importance of
these difficulties and their social implications. The
general practitioners, too, with whom there is excellent
co-operation, are usually pleased to be relieved of responsibilities
in this field.
The specialized training required for this very responsible
work is, in the nature of things, still lacking, but increased
liaison with the Child Guidance Clinic helps to bridge the
gap. The Minor Ailment Clinic now corresponds, in its
concern with nurture in its widest sense, to the Welfare
Clinics for the pre-school child ". I should like to acknowledge
the help which we receive from Dr. Zausmer, the
Director of the Crayford Child Guidance Clinic, and his staff
in elucidating the many problems of this nature which are
so frequently encountered.
During 1955, routine gramophone audiometry was
continued and the 9 year age group, numbering 1,348
children, was examined. Routine audiometry will, in future,
become an intrinsic part of the School Health Service in the
Borough of Bexley and, at the time of writing, arrangements
are in hand for the purchase of a Pure Tone Sweep Frequency
Audiometer which has many advantages over the gramophone
audiometer and can be applied even to the youngest
school age groups as writing is not required. Further
advantages are that the apparatus is easily portable and the
tests can be done in a small room, thus reducing dislocation
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