London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Willesden 1945
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Willesden]
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These adults mainly come to the notice of the Health Department as contacts with known cases amongst
school children or as cases referred from hospitals or factories or by private doctors. Every effort has been made to
secure the attendance of the men as well as the women in a family and the appointment of a suitably qualified male
attendant at the new Treatment Clinic has greatly contributed to the success of this effort.
Table No. 15.
Attendances of Adults at the Authority's Clinics for Cleansing and Scabies.
| Number Treated. | Attendances. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scabies. | Lice and Nits. | Total. | Scabies. | Lice and Nits. | Total. | |||
| Men. | Women. | Men. | Women. | |||||
| 1938 | — | – | _ | – | – | 104 | ||
| 1939 | — | — | — | — | – | 150 | ||
| 1940 | — | — | — | — | – | 556 | ||
| 1941 | 293 | 104 | 397 | 912 | 104 | 1,016 | ||
| 1942 | 568 | 88 | 656 | 2,287 | 88 | 2,375 | ||
| 1943 | 913 | 127 | 1,040 | 3,116 | 127 | 3,243 | ||
| 1944 | 274 | 822 | 3 | 116 | ||||
| 1,096 | 119 | 1,215 | 2,683 | 148 | 2,831 | |||
| 1945 | 279 | 904 | 11 | 100 | ||||
| 1,183 | 111 | 1,294 | 3,485 | 155 | 3,640 | |||
SECONDARY AND JUNIOR TECHNICAL, ETC., SCHOOLS.
The arrangement by which the Medical and Dental Staff of the Willesden Council carried out the inspection
of pupils attending the Secondary and Junior Technical Schools in Willesden on behalf of the Middlesex County
Council continued until April, 1946, when the new Education Act of 1944 came into force. From that time onwards
these Schools were dealt with under the Act in the same way as other Maintained Schools. The total number of
pupils on the rolls of these Schools is approximately 3,000.
Dermatological Department—H. Haldin-Davis, m.d., f.r.c.p., f.r.c.s., Dermatologist to the Council.—
The work of the Dermatologicai Department has proceeded on normal lines throughout the year.
Ophthalmic Department.—B. R. Medlycott, d.o.m.s., m.b., b.s.(Lond.), m.r.c.s., l.r.c.p., Ophthalmic
Surgeon to the Council.—Total attendance in 1945, 2,980.
Analysis.
| Centre | Maternity and Child Welfare | Pupils, Elementary Schools | Secondary Schools | Total | Number of Sessions | Average Attendance per Session |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 188 | 671 | 152 | 1,011 | 30 | 34 |
| 2 | 156 | 725 | 61 | 942 | 27 | 35 |
| 3 | 111 | 841 | 78 | 1,030 | 34 | 30 |
| Totals | 455 | 2,2 10 | 291 | 2,986 | 91 | 33 |
Refractions.
| Centre | Appointments Made | Appointments Kept | Percentage Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 215 | 164 | 76 |
| 2 | 235 | 166 | 71 |
| 3 | 278 | 215 | 77 |
| Totals | 728 | 545 | 75 |
Until the beginning of October, 1945, Ophthalmic Clinics were usually held at fortnightly intervals, Miss
Orr-Ewing being in attendance at Health Centres 1 and 2, and Mr. Mushin being in charge of the work at Health
Centre 3.
Mr. Medlycott resumed his duties as Ophthalmic Surgeon to the Council at the beginning ot October on
demobilisation from the R.A.M.C., and during the last three months of the year the Eye Clinics have been held
weekly at each centre, as in the past, greatly easing the congestion at each session, which had been increasing with
the return of the children to the borough on the cessation of hostilities.
Owing to the evacuation of the children, irregularity in the frequency of sessions held, and change in the
Ophthalmic staff during the year, figures submitted for 1945, which are given above, do not afford an exact parallel
to statistics reported in pre-war reports.