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To the Chairman and Members of the Education Committee:
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg to submit my Annual Report on the School Health Service for the
year 1947. The report is compiled in respect of the health and well-being of
the school children of Edmonton in accordance with the wishes of the Ministry
of Education conveyed to me through the medium of the Middlesex County
Council.
We have now grown accustomed to the operation of the 1944 Education
Act in the School Health Service, and accordingly have developed our Services
more efficiently and in some ways more effectively. Coupled with the benefits
that will undoubtedly accrue from the National Health Service Act, a further
more detailed improvement will be brought about. It is to be hoped that more
speedy and effective treatment of the children under the new circumstances will
add considerably to their health and happiness in the course of their School life.
The conditions with regard to tonsils and adenoids have improved a good
deal since last year, but we are still experiencing some difficulty in getting patients
into Hospital for operations. In some instances the waiting list becomes so
tedious that the patients proceed to have the operations carried out privately. I
am glad to be able to report that those children who have been treated have in
the mam shown a great improvement in their health, and parents are satisfied
that the best thing had been done for the children.
I am happy to report that serious deformities are now the exception rather
than the rule in the Orthopædic Clinic. There are, however, quite a number of
minor deformities which still need the attention of the Surgeon, and this type of
deformity seems to be on the increase. We have also had the services of two
Remedial Gymnasts. These Officers are to work under the direction of the
Orthopædic Surgeon or the School Medical Officer, but we had not been able
to arrange this mainly because the problem involves administrative difficulties as
well as technical ones. Unless there are sufficient number of Gymnasts appointed
it is impossible to make a definite return concerning the whole Borough. We
have, however, used the Officers in question as far as possible in a number of
schools, and we are satisfied that benefits have been given to the children.
We have had a setback this year in Child Guidance Our Medical
Psychiatrist, Dr. Fordham, left the Staff, and it has been very difficult to replace
him. The result is that some of the benefits that one would expect from Child
Guidance had to be set aside and both parents and teachers showed some annoyance
at the delay in having their children examined and treated.
The Dental service has continued to give good results, but the number
of Dentists employed by the Borough is not yet sufficient to deal with the
problems of dentistry throughout all the schools. We are hampered here, and
indeed in other departments too, by the lack of suitable premises in order
to expand our services and give immediate treatment to all who need it.
Parents are showing an added interest in the Asthma Clinic. In some
instances we have acquired a great degree of success while in others the results
are somewhat disappointing. We combine the services of the Inoculation
Department of St. Mary's Hospital with suitable exercises and, in many instances,
admission to the Open Air School.
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