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TREATMENT.
Attendances for minor ailment treatment at the clinics again
show an increase over the previous year, 16,030 attendances being
made during 1948, as against 15,795 during 1947.
Some inconvenience is being caused to a few parents whose
children attending the clinic require treatment by prescriptions,
as the child must be referred to its family doctor in order that
the prescription may be obtained free under the National Health
Service Act. With the coming into operation of this Act the
Minister has ruled that no prescriptions should be issued by
Medical Officers at these clinics.
Special clinics continue to be provided covering orthopaedic,
ophthalmic, dental and speech defects. Cases requiring hospital
treatment are referred to either Farnborough Hospital or Bromley
Hospital, and those requiring domiciliary treatment are
referred to their own doctor. Children in need of Child Guidance
treatment are referred to the County Council for appointments
at the Child Guidance Clinic. Since the introduction of the
National Health Service Act the responsibility for the treatment
of tubercular children has passed to the South Eastern Regional
Hospital Board, and children in need of treatment are referred
to the Chest Clinic at Park Road, Bromley.
ORTHOPÆDIC CLINIC.
(See Table III, Group IV.)
This service is operated by the Kent County Council, who
provide their own Orthopaedic Surgeon and Physiotherapist.
In-patient treatment is provided at Pembury Hospital or
Southern Hospital, Dartford.
I am indebted to Mr. K. F. Hulbert, the Orthopaedic Surgeon,
for the following report :
"During the past year 33 Surgeon's sessions have been held
and 934 patients have attended for consultation. The numbers of
patients attending is increasing considerably, and several extra
sessions have had to be held in order to keep the waiting list down
to a reasonable time. The number of attendances for massage
and exercises was 4,684, and 1,482 attended for ultra-violet ray
treatment. The cases seen have not differed appreciably from
former years, and disorders of the feet and back, of course, predominate.
"The problem of the spastic child still gives cause for some
concern, because so often these children are not fit for an
ordinary school, and accommodation at special schools is very
difficult at the present time. The result is that several of these