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Between April and December 1965 considerable attention had
to be given to administrative problems associated with the formation
of the Borough and provision of an integrated service. However,
notable events during the year included :—
(a) the opening of the new assessment unit at Corbets Tey
Special (E.S.N.) School, Upminster. This is a selfcontained
unit for the detailed observation and assessment,
from medical and social as well as educational
aspects, of children who may be in need of
some form of special educational treatment. At the
end of the year eight children were in attendance and
regular visits were being made by medical officers,
educational psychologists and child psychiatrists, to
observe the children and consult the teachers.
(b) provision of five further transistor audiometers.
These lightweight machines can easily be hand carried
by school nurses, and have made possible the
planning of a comprehensive hearing test programme.
(c) creation of a liaison committee between the Principal
School Medical Officer and representatives of head
teachers and teachers. The first meeting of this committee
was held in October 1965 and immediately
proved of considerable value in discussion of many
aspects of the service, and providing a means of exchanging
views on proposed changes in the service.
(d) provision of fifty extra enuresis (bed-wetting) buzzer
treatment sets. This enabled a considerable reduction
in the waiting list for treatment of this troublesome
condition.
(e) regular meetings between head teachers, education
officers, educational psychologists and medical
officers to select the pupils being offered places in
the two special (E.S.N.) schools in the Borough and to
review the waiting list.
(f) provision of an integrated plan for the exchange of
information between the School Health and Youth
Employment Services.
MEDICAL INSPECTIONS
Periodic Medical Inspections
The most important of three periodic inspections is the first
examination after entering school at the age of five. More conditions
which were previously undetected and untreated are found
at this inspection, which is well attended by parents, than at the
later two inspections. The value of the first or second periodic
inspection is considerably reduced when the parent does not attend.
A total of 8,756 pupils were examined at periodic medical inspections
during the year. 1,452 of these (16.85%) were found to
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