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Should he suspect some more serious cause of deafness the child is referred either
to his own doctor, to the ear, nose and throat consultants, who hold sessions at the
Council's clinics, or to the audiology unit at Heston. The figures for testing during
the year were:
Children tested 13,959
Schools visited 96
Children with hearing loss 514
Children referred to specialist 134
Foot Health
The special sessions for foot inspections at schools have been discontinued
due to lack of staff. This is much to be regretted since the regular inspection of
children's feet for early defects and the opportunity this gives to spread propaganda
emphasizing the need for wearing of sensible shoes is of the greatest value. These
inspections will be resumed as soon as possible, meanwhile, foot examination is of
course part of the routine medical inspection.
Head Inspections
The Council's policy of inspection of children's heads for infestation is that
examination takes place at six monthly intervals except that, where a junior or
secondary school has been entirely free from infestation for two years, further
examinations take place less frequently at my discretion.
During 1966, 48,071 examinations were carried out, 413 cases of infestation
were found representing 0.86% of the children examined.
Vision Testing
Vision testing is carried out normally on five occasions during the child's school
life, namely at five, seven, nine, twelve and fourteen years of age. Three of these
examinations are linked with the routine medical examination, and school nurses
make special visits to school for the other two.
Defective colour vision could influence the choice of career and, for this
reason, colour vision testing is carried out in junior and senior schools.
SCHOOL CLINICS
The following school clinics are provided:
General
Asthma
Chiropody
Foot Health Advisory
Speech Therapy
Ophthalmic
Orthopaedic
Ear, Nose and Throat
Child Guidance
General School Clinics
To these clinics any parent or teacher may refer a child whose health or progress
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