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101
" During the year a total number of 953 cases have been
examined, of which 308 were new cases and 645 were reinspections.
" Attendances have been good despite the adverse weather
conditions in the early part of the year—a point which speaks
well for the co-operation of parents.
" A large number of cases of squint have been examined.
Many have undergone operation for this defect at the Bromley
and District Hospital. Full use has been made of the Orthoptic
Department at the North Clinic; both pre-operatively and postoperatively.
" One point is causing anxiety; that is the delay in the dispensing
of spectacle lenses. This is due to lack of skilled lens-makers
in the factories rather than to any fault on the part of the local
dispensing opticians who undertake the supply of lenses. It
seems that there should be some scheme of priority for children
whose future may depend so largely on early and immediate
attention.
" In conclusion, I should like to pay tribute to the help and
co-operation of the Orthoptist, the Health Visitors, and above
all to the Administrative Staff of the Health Department, who
work so hard to make the Eye Clinics run smoothly and
efficiently."
ORTHOPTIC CLINIC.
(See Table VI)
The Orthoptic Department is held on six sessions a week at
the Bromley North School Clinic. All the cases for treatment
are referred by Dr. Eric Lyle, and the numbers are increasing
owing to the number of new cases being referred from the
Orpington Clinic as well as from Bromley. The attendances
during the past year have been good, and only three cases have
failed to attend.
The aim of treatment for all cases is to obtain binocular
single vision, and this standard of cure takes a reasonably long
time to be attained in the majority of cases. The standard of
cure can be reached in some cases through treatment alone, but
in other cases operative assistance is necessary to assist the treatment,
and pre- and post-operative treatment will give the
necessary cure. A certain number of cases can never obtain
binocular single vision and these are treated with either operation
or exercises or both, and are discharged as cosmetic results
when they have reached the highest standard of cure possible
for them.