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12
Secondary School Children.
There are two Secondary Schools in Willesden, namely, the Kilburn Grammar School with
301, and the Polytechnic Day Trade School with 84 pupils on the rolls at September, 1920. Section
18 of the Education Act, 1918, requires that the Medical Inspection of pupils attending these schools
shall be undertaken annually as from the 1st April, 1920. By an arrangement with the Middlesex
County Council, this school inspection of the pupils attending the two Secondary Schools in Willesden
has been carried out by the Medical Staff of the Willesden School Medical Service under Section 18
of the Education Act, 1918, the Board of Education (Higher Education, Medical Inspection and
Treatment) Regulations, dated 19th March, 1920, and Circular 1,153 of the Board, relating to Medical
Inspection and Treatment of Pupils in Secondary Schools and Continuation Schools, dated 31st March,
1920. Particulars of these examinations and the results have been forwarded to the Middlesex
County Council in Tabular form as required by the Board of Education for the 9 months ended
December, 1920. During this period, 283 pupils were examined and 326 defective conditions noted,
168 of which were referred for treatment and 158 for further observation. The attention of the
parents was called to the defects verbally, if the parents attended the examination, and otherwise,
by letter. A review of the action taken by parents to deal with the defective conditions brought to
their notice is not included in the information sent to the Middlesex County Council for the 9 months
under review and will not be available until the pupils concerned automatically come under review
in the following year as required by the Code of Inspection.
Dental Work.
During the year the two dentists employed by the Council have had their hands full. 3,500
School Children, 706 Mothers and Children under 5 years made 12,493 attendances at the Dental
Clinics. 4,050 fillings were done, 13,002 extractions and 1,381 other operations performed. Anaesthetics
were given 4,133 times. A feature of the year's dental work has been the large number of
cases referred to the clinic on account of gross decay of the teeth, or septic conditions of the gums.
The proper function of the dentist relative to oral hygiene, as of the doctor relative to personal hygiene
generally, is to keep the patient's mouth healthy, and this can only be done by regular inspection
and immediate treatment from youth upwards. The number of patients that a dentist can keep
well is generally accepted as 3,000. The moment a mouth becomes mutilated by disease or even
by the extraction of a tooth, its defences are weakened and pyorrhoea and other conditions of the
mouth leading to affections of the general health arise. Conservative dentistry is one of the most
important adjuncts to good health.
Home Nursing.
Home Nursing was begun on January 19th, 1920, the scheme of the Council having been approved
by the Ministry of Health, who agreed to the proposed apportionment of the cost of the Nursing
Services between Maternity and Child Welfare and other purposes in the proportion of half and half.
During 9 months of the year, 4 Home Nurses were on duty and for the remaining 3 months, 8 Home
Nurses. 681 cases have been nursed by the Home Nursing Service of the Council, 11,531 visits
having been paid, an average of 10 visits being made per day per nurse. Of the 681 cases, 468
were referred by the Health Department, 115 by Private Medical Practitioners and 98 by Voluntary
Hospitals and others. The cases referred by Voluntary Hospitals have largely been cases of minor
operations where after operation at the hospital they were sent home, and also accident cases treated
in the out-patient departments, such as fractures, burns, scalds, cuts and the like. The cases referred
have come from every part of the Willesden district and have included such conditions as,
Ophthalmia 59 cases, Measles and its complications 54 cases, Bronchitis 44 cases, Scarlet Fever 43
cases, Threadworms 42 cases, Pneumonia 36 cases, Maternity 26 cases and Influenza 24 cases. Of
the total number of 681 cases referred, 525 recovered, 78 entered a hospital or other institution, 20
died, and 58 were still being nursed at the end of the year. Of the cases which recovered, a certain
proportion were in need of further treatment at a Convalescent Home. In many cases nursed, and
especially in such cases as Pneumonia and Influenza, where a fluid diet is ordered, there seems to have
been difficulty in obtaining the milk prescribed on account of the cost. Of the 11,531 visits, 6,037
referred to mothers and children under 5 and 5,494 referred to others, shewing that the original
apportionment of half and half was approximately correct. The services of the Home Nurses of
the Council have been greatly appreciated by every class of the community and many expressions
of thanks and gratitude have been received from residents.
Provision of Meals.
Mid-day meals have been provided during the year to mothers and children under 5 years
of age and school children where the economic circumstances of the family come below the scale
fixed by the Council and the Education Committee. The Education Committee also provide breakfasts
to school children where the economic circumstances of the family are less than half the scale
fixed. These meals are provided at three centres provided by the Education Committee and one
by a Voluntary Agency in Willesden. During the year 1920, 135,300 meals were provided, 16,951
to mothers and children under 5 and 118,349 to school children. The total number exceeds by
19,213 the number of meals supplied in 1919 on account of the unemployment which was prevailing
during the last quarter of 1920 and on account of. the provision of breakfasts which appear in the
returns for a full year for the first time.