View report page

138
COUNTY BOROUGH OF CROYDON.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL MEDICAL OFFICER.
For the Year Ending December 31st, 1925.
GENERAL.
While the following pages set out particulars of the activities
of the school medical service throughout the year, I have felt it
desirable to precede these particulars by a more general statement
on certain aspects of the health of the school child.
The Ministry of Health have requested Medical Officers of
Health to see that their reports for the year 1925 give a general
survey of the progress made in Public Health affairs within their
district during the previous five years. I have applied the same
principle in outline to the present report in the following
paragraphs.
H. P. NEWSHOLME,
School Medical Officer.
March, 1926.
Development of School Medical Work, 1921—1925.
Medical Supervision in School.—During the five years under
review, there has been a progressive increase in the number of
children examined in school, and in particular an increase in the
direction of the examination of special children presented for
examination by parents, or brought forward by teachers, attendance
officers, or health visitors on account of suspected physical defects.
The particulars are summarised in the table on page 4.
The continued improvement in the supervision of children
found to be suffering from physical defects is indicated by the
steady increase in the number of re-examinations recorded year by
year.
Medical Treatment.—The increasing appreciation of the treatment
provided at the various clinics established by the Education
Committee is similarly shewn by the increasing attendances, until
in some cases the maximum capacity of a clinic on its present basis
has been reached. The work of the school clinics will be markedly