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 1946
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Willesden]
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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 | 1 912 | 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 | 1,215 | 2,683 | 148 | 2,831 | |
| 1,096 | 119 | ||||||||
| 1945 | 279 | 904 | 11 V- | 100 | 1,294 | 3,485 | 155 | 3,640 | |
| 1.183 | 111 | ||||||||
| 1946 | 350 | 668 | 15 | 91 | 1,124 | 3,454 | 147 | 3,601 | |
| 1,108 | 106 | ||||||||
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 3,460.
Dermatological Department.—H. Haldin-Davis, m.d., f.r.c.p., f.r.c.s., Dermatologist to the Council.—
The work of the Dermatological 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 1946, 3,191 and 2,986 in 1945.
Analysis.
| Centre | Maternity and Child Welfare | Pupils, Elementary Schools | Secondary Schools | Total | Number of Sessions | Average Attendance per Session | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 187 | 610 | 140 | 937 | 45 | 21 | |||
| 2 | 229 | 815 | 34 | 1,078 | 47 | 23 | |||
| 3 | 199 | 899 | 68 | 1,166 | 47 | 25 | |||
| Totals | 615 | 2,324 | 242 | 3,181 • | 139 | 23 | |||
| Refractions. | |||||||||
| Centre | Without Mydriatic | With Mydriatic | Percentage Attendance | ||||||
| Appointments Made | Appointments Kept | ||||||||
| 1 | 252 | 95 | 85 | 89 | |||||
| 2 | 304 | 147 | 129 | 88 | |||||
| 3 | 313 | 128 | 103 | 80 | |||||
| Totals | 869 | 370 | 317 | 86 | |||||
The work of the Eye Department is now being carried out as in the years prior to the war, with a weekly
session at each health centre, an optician being in attendance on each occasion, to take frame measurements, and
give all necessary information regarding the free issue of spectacles, or the prices of more expensive styles, in the
cases where these are selected by parents who wish to make use of his services. Free choice of optician is the rule,
except when parents desire the standard free-issue spectacles. All glasses are checked by me before issue.
The more immediate need of the Ophthalmic Clinics is an Orthoptic Department, with a trained Orthoptist
in attendance. Detailed plans for such a department were drawn up before the war, but unfortunately could not
be carried out. When times are more favourable, this matter should receive urgent attention, as many of the cases
of squint attending the Health Centres would benefit from a course of Orthoptic training.