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102
Within a short time of the inception of the service, however, it was
apparent that the existing provisions for treatment were inadequate, and
that the limitations of the service of private practitioners, and of voluntary
hospitals, resulted in only a small proportion of those requiring
treatment obtaining it. Local authorities then started to make arrangements
for dealing with such conditions as minor ailments, uncleanliness
of children, defects of eyesight and hearing, enlarged tonsils and adenoids,
and dental diseases. Authorities then came to accept it as their responsibility
to provide the services necessary for the treatment of these conditions
for any school child requiring it, irrespective of the parents' ability
to pay the full cost of the treatment, the parents' contribution usually
being assessed according to their financial circumstances. By the 1918
Education Act it was laid definitely as a duty on the education authorities
to provide such treatment, while at the same time it became an
obligation on the higher education authorities to arrange for the medical
inspection of children attending secondary and continuation schools.
From 1920 onwards special types of physically disabled children were
brought within the scope of the service. The needs of the delicate child
were met by his admission to an open-air school, and by treatment by
general ultra-violet irradiation. Orthopaedic schemes, including special
schools for cripples, were established for the prevention and curing of
crippling defects, while more recently the rheumatic child is being dealt
with by the setting up of special clinics, from which children can be
referred for admission to hospitals and residential schools. The maladjusted
or the problem child is dealt with at the Child Guidance Clinic,
while the needs of those suffering from speech defect are met by the
attention of speech therapists.
The new Education Act rounds off this progressive development of
the services, by making it the duty of every local education authority to
make such arrangements for securing the provision of free medical treatment
for pupils in attendance at any school or county college maintained
by them, as are necessary for securing that comprehensive facilities for
free medical treatment are available to them under this Act or otherwise,
and every local education authority shall have the power to make similar
arrangements for senior pupils in attendance at any other educational
establishment maintained by them (Section 48 (3)).
With regard to medical inspection, the position is, that it is the duty
of every local education authority to provide for the medical inspection
at appropriate intervals of pupils in attendance at any school or county
college maintained by them, and every local education authority shall
have the power to provide for such inspection of senior pupils in attendance
at any other educational establishment maintained by them.
Scheme of Divisional Administration of Education.
The scheme signed on 25th January, 1945, and approved on 24th
July, 1945, authorised the Council to exercise on behalf of the County
Council the functions relating to primary and secondary education, and
the supplementary and ancillary functions specified in the scheme in
respect of the urban district.