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PERSONAL HEALTH
Centres for
assessment of
handicap in
children
The assessment clinic continued to be held approximately once a month throughout the year at the
War Memorial Hospital and has proved to be a valuable step in increasing co-operation between the
hospital paediatric service and the local authority health service. The sessions are attended by the
consultant paediatrician from Chase Farm Hospital, the principal medical officer for school health and
the appropriate health visitor.
Specialist clinic
referrals
Details of pre-school children attending ophthalmic, ear, nose and throat, orthoptic, orthopaedic,
and speech clinics, and for special audiometric tests, are given in the relevant table.
Clinic premises
Premises in the borough used for clinic purposes are: fourteen purpose built; four adapted; two rented.
The Ten-Year plan, details of which are given elsewhere in this report, contains proposals for the
replacement of certain clinics by purpose-built premises.
Welfare foods and
vitamin supplements
On behalf of the Department of Health and Social Security, as part of the Welfare Foods Service, the
distribution of dried milk, vitamin drops for children and vitamin tablets for expectant mothers
continued at the clinics. The following issues (total value £2,641) were made: National Dried Milk,
4,364 packets; vitamin drops, 9,592 bottles; vitamin tablets, 1,573 containers; orange juice (discontinued),
18,733 bottles. In addition, various brands of proprietary dried milk, cereals and vitamin
preparations, recommended by medical officers and health visitors in particular cases, were available
at clinics, and the total sales amounted to £15,049.
Dental care
Details of examination and treatment of expectant and nursing mothers and children under five years
of age are given in the relevant table. To make known to a wider number of parents the dental facilities
available at clinics for pre school children, reference to those facilities is made on the forms taken
home by older children for whom parental consent to dental treatment is required.
"At risk"
register
A register is kept of children who, because of some factor noted either before, during, or after birth,
may be thought to be more liable than other children to suffer a mental or physical abnormality.
These children are kept under observation by the Department's medical officers until it is established
that development is normal. Information concerning a child who may be "at risk" is received from the
doctor, health visitor or midwife concerned. Of the 508 children who had hearing tests, six appeared
to have some loss and are under observation.
Incidence of
congenital
abnormalities
detectable at birth
Notifications, with details, of babies, live and stillborn, with a detectable abnormality, are submitted
by the doctor or midwife in charge of the confinement. A return of these notifications, amounting to
56 for the year, was made to the Registrar General.
Phenylketonuria
The Guthrie blood test continued to be used for the routine screening of babies for phenylketonur
In the limited number of cases where for any reason it was not possible to complete a Guthrie bloi
test, the phenistix test was used.
Tests were also carried out for histidinaemia and homocystinuria.
"Battered babies"
syndrome
The group of local authority officers and other persons and organisations concerned with cases of
young children injured by their parents gave further consideration to this problem during 1972. The
procedure, devised in 1970 for the early detection of cases where "battering" is suspected, was kept
under review.
During the year sixteen cases of suspected "battering" were investigated and six children were
considered to have received physical abuse. Of these six children, all of whom had been admitted to
hospital, five were returned to the care of their parents, who continue to receive supportive care. The
sixth child, who had been placed with prospective adoptive parents, was discharged to the care of the
organisation concerned with arrangements for adoption.
Non-fatal accidents
to young children
in their homes
Under an arrangement with the Enfield Group of Hospitals cases of children under five years of age
treated for accidental poisoning are reported to the Medical Officer of Health. During 1972 details
of 66 such cases were received: 32 children had taken aspirin tablets, twelve had swallowed other
types of tablet, and the remaining 22 had taken a miscellaneous assortment of substances. Under a
similar arrangement the Ambulance Service advise the Health Office whenever an ambulance is called
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