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83
To the Chairman and Members of the Welfare Committee.
Ladies and Gentlemen.
This, my first introductory letter to you. will, under the
circumstances be brief, for it covers a period when I was not your
Medical Officer of Health. Indeed, it was not until the early days
of 1955 that Dr. Tapper handed over to me the fruits of many
years of labour in the interests of the school children of Bromley.
I count myself fortunate and privileged to be heir to such a " going
concern " and although with the passage of time some changes and.
what I hope, will be improvements in the service, are inevitable,
nothing will detract from the merit of the sure and firm foundation
from which the School Health Service was built up so ably by my
predecessor and the Committees he advised so well.
It is my earnest hope that the same Committee support will
be extended to me. and that together we shall see the service
proceed from strength to strength. This brings me to the future,
for nothing can prosper by being static, and I feel that the time is
fast approaching, if indeed it is not already here, when we shall
have to deal more and more with the individual problems of the
children and their parents, and less with the purely routine physical
examination of children who, in the great majority of cases are in
a sound physical state. This, of course, will involve devoting an
immense amount of time to rather lengthy interviews, but if that is
the service required, it is up to us to give it. This is just one
thought that crosses my mind after a very brief period of office,
but after further deliberation, I hope to be in a position to advance
further ideas for the future.
As I draw to my conclusion, may I express my gratitude to the
Committee who have always treated me with such courtesy during
my period as Deputy Medical Officer of Health, to the Borough
Education Officer and his staff, and the staff of my department,
for their always ready and willing co-operation.
Finally, a very special word of thanks to my Chief Clerk, Mr.
•lucid, who has devoted many hours to the preparation of this report.
H. B. C. CARTER-LOCKE,
Medical Officer of Health.