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and child welfare work and one dealt mainly with the schools.
All now have mixed duties which cover a wider field and it must
be remembered that, although the number of births has decreased,
the school population is much larger than it was in 1946.
Infant Welfare Centres.
No alterations have been made recently in the arrangements
appertaining to the 9 Centres, all except one of which were established
before 1947. The attendances in the different parts of the
District tend to fluctuate from time to time as the constitution of
the local population changes, but the following table indicates the
trend in respect of the use of these centres.
1938 1947 1954
Total attendances 17,038 14,819 13,442
Total new cases 667 984 597
New cases as % of registered births
in previous year 96% 95% 79%
Sessions 239 315 405
Average attendance per session 71 47 33
Doctor's consultations 3,522 3,414 3,735
Doctor's consultations per Session
attended 20.2 11.7 9.9
Unfortunately the statistics for the three years are not strictly
comparable as, for example, in 1954 the 'new cases' were limited
to children who on first attending had not celebrated their first
birthday. In general, however, the variations provide food for
thought.
Day Nurseries.
Since 1948 there have only been two Day Nurseries in the
District and of these the one at Sanderstead, which accepts children
of 0-5 years of age, is never full to capacity. The Old Coulsdon
Nursery takes children of 0-3 years and is usually full. Children
are only admitted when the mother is the sole wage earner or on
grounds of health including unsatisfactory housing conditions. The
result is a smaller demand than in War time and frequently
shorter periods of attendance, but a very useful service for those
affected. It is a pity from the point of view of training girls for
nursing and for life generally that for several years neither of
the local Nurseries has been a Training Nursery.
School Health Service.
The basis of this service is the periodical medical and dental
inspection of all the children in attendance at the local schools
who, in this Division, now number over 12,000 compared with
7,490 in 1946. Several full and part time doctors and one full
time dentist are employed on the work in this District. Some of
the defects noted need to be kept under observation and others
are referred for treatment by private doctors, hospitals or specialist
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