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85
to the Chairman and Members of the Welfare Sub-Committee
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In presenting my review of the School Health Service for 1955,
it is my privilege to comment on a year of change, progress and
great activity. Last year I had to apologise for the brevity of my
letter; this year my apology will be for the opposite reason—a
change which the reader may not consider an altogether unmixed
blessing !
Early in the year a new Deputy Medical Officer of Health, in
the person of Dr. A. J. I. Kelynack, joined the staff and very soon
made his presence felt by the quality and thoroughness of his work.
He quickly endeared himself to all with whom he came in contact
and is now a well established member of the staff for whose valued
work I am personally most grateful.
A most gratifying feature of the year's work has been the
splendid understanding and co-operation which has existed between
the educational and school health service staffs. They have all
pulled their weight in the finest possible team spirit and have made
a real contribution towards helping the up and coming generation
to enjoy a fuller and a better life to the best possible advantage.
During the year, two additional private schools and the new senior
section of another school decided to take advantage of the scheme
by which they are enabled to partake of the benefits of the school
health services. This is a most encouraging sign and shows an
increasing awareness of the value of this service, but should further
private schools from time to time apply for these facilities and
taking into consideration the projected programme of new maintained
schools, one can foresee a staffing problem arising, as the
medical staff are already working at full pressure. In this connection,
it is interesting to note that in 1938 the school roll was only 5,520,
but that by the year now under consideration this had risen to 9,284
with the addition of 2,521 pupils at independent schools, of whom
well over half are now under the regular supervision of the school
health service. Further, comparing 1938 with 1955, the following
" profit and loss " table may be of some interest:
1938 1955
Periodic Medical Inspections 1777 4515
Other Inspections 9355 1972
Children found to require treatment 321 479
Minor Ailments 2647 1317
Audiometer Examinations Nil 1999
On analysing this table, one is immediately struck by the very
large increase in the number of periodic medical inspections in 1955