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SECTION 7
SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICE
The School Health Service continued the trend of recent years to become more a
matter of examination and early diagnosis rather than treatment.
A case of active tuberculosis occurred affecting one of the largest private schools
in the Borough which involved the department in a considerable amount of work
investigating contacts and arranging X-ray examinations, etc. No further cases,
however, were discovered.
A child suffering from malnutrition, fortunately, is now rarely found. Unfortunately,
however, some children are found to be overweight; this too is regarded
as unsatisfactory and is reflected in our figures under that heading.
My Medical Officers are campaigning against this condition as vigorously as
they did in cases of malnutrition.
There follows a more detailed report concerning particular aspects of the work
of the School Health Service.
ROUTINE MEDICAL INSPECTIONS
Details of the three routine medical inspections carried out in schools are set
out below. These are normally carried out during the first and last years at school
and at the last year in primary school.
Numbers Examined
1960 1961 1962
First age group 1,763 2,284 2,071
Second age group 2,369 1,754 1,989
Third age group 2,136 3,200 3,246
Total 6,268 7,238 7,306
Classification of General Condition
Satisfactory 7,284
Unsatisfactory 22
Defects requiring Treatment found at Routine Medical Inspection
1960 1961 1962
Skin Diseases 712 562 445
Defective Vision 433 562 699
Squint 22 42 36
Defects of Hearing 41 43 135
Middle Ear Diseases 8 12 10
Nose and Throat Diseases 69 79 127
Speech Defects 28 39 45
Enlarged Glands 1 3 5
Heart—Circulation conditions 8 11 24
Lung Diseases 41 39 38
Hernia 2 5 2
Postural Defects 15 13 18
Orthopaedic Foot Defects 73 58 113
Epilepsy 2 6 2
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