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School Medical Officer then examined the medical record of each
child, together with the enquiry form completed by the parents
and any other available reports, and selected for examination
those children who gave an indication of possible medical need;
any doubtful cases being discussed with the Head Teacher or
nursing staff before reaching a decision. All children were given
screening tests of vision and hearing by the School Nurse
irrespective of the selective procedure. Parents were afforded
the opportunity of requesting a medical examination for their
children if they so desired and any such children were included
on the list selected for examination regardless of Medical
history.
766 children were included in this pilot scheme, of which
269 (35.1%) were selected for examination. 82 of these (10.7%
of the total)were found to have defects requiring attention, which
is comparable to 10.5% of children in the same age group who
were found to have defects requiring attention following routine
medical inspections during the previous school year.
The reduction in the number of children called for examination
allowed the School Medical Officers to devote more time to each
individual child, and the scheme was considered to be sufficiently
satisfactory to warrant an extension of the selective procedure
during the forthcoming year.
The total number of children examined at periodic medical
inspections (including the selective inspections) was 9,764;
1,591 (16.29%) of these were found to have defects requiring
treatment and only 10 were considered to be in an unsatisfactory
physical condition.