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79
FOLLOWING UP.
No scheme of School Medical inspection and treatment can
be a success without an efficient and well organised system of
following up. It is not sufficient to find defects in children and
send notices to the parents, the notices must be followed by the
visits of the school nurses, first of all to ascertain if treatment as
advised has been obtained and secondly, if there has been no
treatment, to point out the advantages of it and give information
how it can be obtained if the parents are unable to afford it in the
usual way through the general practitioner. In some cases failure to
obtain treatment may be due to failure to appreciate its importance,
on the other hand it may be due to definite objection which is often
due to ignorance. By suitable advice or tactful persuasion a good
deal can be done, but there are still too many cases in which
threats of prosecution have to be used before the parents can be
prevailed upon to seek treatment even though it may be given free
of charge at the Health Centre.
This objection on the part of parents is being met especially
in regard to dental treatment. After all persuasive efforts
have been tried letters threatening proceedings under the Children
Act have met with success but there are a few parents who will
have to be impressed by actual proceedings before the magistrates.
One or two cases dealt with in this way would serve as an example
to others and save a considerable amount of effort in dealing with
those who persistently refuse to be convinced that their children
require treatment.
MEDICAL TREATMENT.
(a) Minor Ailments.—In Table IV are indicated the number
and the nature of the minor ailments which received treatment during
the year. It will be noted that 1,123 of the 1,280 children suffering
from minor ailments, or 87.7 per cent., were treated at the Health
Centres and 157, or 12.3 per cent., were treated by private practitioners
or at hospitals. The total attendances at the Health
Centres for the daily treatment of minor ailments were as follows:—