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54
SECTION 6.
SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICE
The School Health Service is now administered by the Middlesex
County Council as the Education Authority. Ealing, however, is
an "excepted district" for education purposes and the Ealing
Education Committee is responsible for arranging examinations of
the children. Treatment of any defect discovered is the responsibility
of the Area Health Committee of the Middlesex County
Council.
Under the provision of the Education Act it is the duty of
the local education authority to provide for medical inspection at
appropriate intervals of pupils in attendance at any school or
county college maintained by them.
The Act imposes a legal obligation on the parent to allow the
child to be examined—but the parent has the right to decide by
whom treatment shall be provided, i.e., School Medical Service or
General Medical Services.
Medical examinations are carried out as a routine during the
year of entry into school, during the last year at a primary school,
and during the last year at secondary school.
7,237 routine inspections were carried out in 1952 as compared
to 6686 in 1951.
From time to time the question is raised as to the desirability
of such routine medical examination for the very substantial
number of children attending private schools in the Borough.
There has been found to be a demand for such supervision and
not infrequently requests are received from parents for what they
consider to be continuation of the clinics' supervision of the health
of the child.
In theory such extension of the service would appear desirable,
but it has not been put into practice, the county health committee
not being prepared to agree to Ealing, who have much the largest
number of such private schools, being enabled to cover this service.
Children who are found to be suffering from some defect are
called at regular intervals to assess progress and such reinspections
were performed in 2,986 cases in 1952. Children are also sent to
the Clinics for examination at the request of the teacher and parent,
and such special examination was carried out in 3,669 cases during
the year. Thus a total of 13,892 examinations were carried out
during the year—an increase of 941 on the previous year's total.
These routine examinations are an essential factor in maintaining
the health of the school child and discovering the earliest
deviation from health. The School Medical Officer no longer