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209
In December, 1929, a Joint Circular (No. 1054) was
addressed to all Local Authorities by the Minister of Health
and the President of the Board of Education. This Circular
drew attention to the lack of medical supervision of children
between the ages of two and five years, urged Local Authorities
to extend their services in that direction, and made suggestions
for the effectual filling of the gap in medical supervision.
The following is an extract from a special report I was
asked to submit at that time as to the manner in which the
request of the Ministers could be complied with:—
" Broadly speaking, the problem can be tackled in
one or other of the following ways:—
(1) By the Extension of Existing Services. This
could be done either by extending the scope of the
infant welfare work of the Maternity and Child
Welfare Authority up to the age of five; or by
bringing school medical inspection and treatment
under the Education Authority down to serve the
needs of children from two to five.
Although each child carries on its physical
attributes or defects from one stage to the next,
there is no continuous supervision by the same
Authority. After all is said, the arbitrary distinction
between the medical services of the Health
Authority and the Education Authority is unnecessarily
artificial, and defective co-ordination of
all the means available should be by no means
impossible to obtain, especially where—as in
Leyton—the Local Authority has both health and
educational powers and the Medical Officer of
Health is also School Medical Officer. In such an
area the problem should be one merely of arrangement
and administration.
A more complete scheme for the pre-school
child should include:—
(a) A more comprehensive scheme for the
following up by the health visitors of children
between two and five years of age who are
found to require medical advice and treatment.