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11
The wisdom of this action becomes apparent if one considers
in addition to the desire for efficiency of the scheme and
humanitarian motives the possibility of its justification on purely
economic grounds. It would be poor economy to burden the
Education Committee with the high cost of special education
for a physically defective child whose defect might have beer
remedied in earlier years.
I have much pleasure in setting out below some notes on
the work of the Orthopaedic Clinic contributed by W. Eldon
Tucker, Esq., F.R.C.S., the Orthopaedic Surgeon.
This Clinic has now been functioning for over sixteen
months and it is now possible to indicate the benefits derived
from it. The Clinic keeps in touch with all cases that require
orthopaedic treatment in the district, and makes certain that
cases are not being left to their own devices, or to become
chronic from lack of supervision.
Many different types of orthopaedic conditions have been
treated, but the commoner ones are flat feet, and back deformities
giving rise to scoliosis and kyphosis.
It has been noted that both the children and the parents
co-operate extremely well in performing at home the remedial
exercises which have been taught in two Remedial Exercise
Classes under the excellent supervision of Miss Whitworth."
Heart Disease and Rheumatism.
Table 11 shows that 49 cases of organic heart disease were
observed, whilst the number of cases of functional heart disease
was 166.
Tuberculosis.
The responsibility for the Tuberculosis Scheme for this
area, rests with the County C ouncil and under their Tuberculosis
Scheme they provide a Dispensary at Erith where a 'Tuberculosis
Officer attends twice weekly. The School Clinic is of
course an important adjunct of the Tuberculosis Scheme and
close co-operation is maintained between the Dispensary and
the School Medical Service. It is at the School Clinic that the
preliminary clinical observations necessary to justify further
and perhaps extensive investigation can be carried out. The
Orthopaedic Clinic is another link in the chain of Tuberculosis
supervision where every care is maintained over recovered cases
who suffer from permanent disabilities as a result of the disease.