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59
Routine Foot Inspection.
Commencing in June, 1950, a school nurse with special training
in the subject has been carrying out inspections of feet and footwear
in the schools. The parents are notified of any foot trouble found
and are given an appointment to attend the Chiropody Clinic or
the Minor Ailment Clinic from whence, if necessary, they may be
referred to the Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon. Children who
are found to be wearing too small or otherwise unsuitable footwear,
are given a leaflet on "Children's Shoes" issued by the Boot and
Shoe Research Association, to show to their parents.
It is estimated that each child will receive a routine foot
examination once in two years, and those requiring special care
will be seen more often.
Children with minor foot deformities such as corns, ingrowing
toenails and hard skin are referred to the care of the Chiropodist.
This is a completely new development in the care of the physique
of the school child and we are extremely interested to observe its
development. The parents are showing a lively interest, and it is
hoped to be able to present some statistics at the end of a year's
working on this side of the scheme. Already new lines of thought
are being raised, and new approaches to the problems before us are
appearing. Dr. Craigmile is supervising this specialist side of the
work and is achieving promising results under most difficult
circumstances.
Number of schools inspected to 31st December, 1950 15
Total number of children seen 4,504
Referred to Minor Ailment Clinic 206
Referred to Chiropodist 118
Number of Verrucae found 53
A full report and statistical summary is now in preparation
and the results are to be published shortly.
CHILD GUIDANCE
Dr. Holman reports:—
"In 1950 it was found possible to see rather more new cases
than had been seen in 1949. There were, however, a large number
of cases waiting to be seen from 1949 and, in spite of all efforts in
1950, 50 cases remain on the waiting list for interview in 1951.
This represents three to four months' work.
We were able to institute treatment in a larger number of
cases in 1950 than in 1949 and hope that this will not slacken in
future years. Mrs. Charlotte Carey eventually joined our staff
as a full-time Child Psycho-therapist in May, 1950. In future