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23. SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICE
During the year a comprehensive review of the School Health Service in the
Borough took place, and the resultant recommendations were accepted by the
Education (Special Services) Sub-Committee at the end of the year. They aim to
achieve a closer integration of the teaching, child guidance, and school health staff,
and to increase the effectiveness of the various components of the school health
service. In addition they include a 10 year programme of improvement of school
medical room facilities and the starting of a pilot scheme of selective medical
examination.
It is hoped that during the course of next year a substantial start will have
been made in implementing these recommendations.
Routine School Medical Inspection
At the present time a minimum of three examinations are carried out during a
child's school life, these being at the ages of 5 years (infant school entrants) 9½
years (junior school) and 14 - 14½ years (secondary school leavers). The total school
population at the end of the year was 38,706 and the details of the examinations
carried out are as follows:
First age group 3,895
Second age group 3,269
Third age group 3,314
10,478
Classification of general condition:
Satisfactory 10,452 - 99.75%
Unsatisfactory 26 - .25%
Defects requiring treatment found at routine medical inspection:
Skin 161
Vision 510
Squint 62
Hearing 44
Middle ear 32
Nose and throat 97
Speech 62
Enlarged glands 3
Heart 12
Lungs 39
Hernia 6
Orthopaedic:
Postural 13
Feet 106
Epilepsy 8
One of the changes recommended by the review was that there should be a
pilot scheme of selective medical examination, a system which has been introduced
in many areas. It consists of omitting the intermediate examination, since it is
considered that the provision of general practitioner and hospital services, combined
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