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7. FOLLOWING UP.
The arrangements for following up defects found at medical
inspection were set out fully in the report for 1920, and these
have been continued throughout. The School Nurses have paid
4,547 visits to the homes of children in whom defects were found
at medical inspection. Of the 706 children referred for treatment,
438, or 62 per cent., have obtained treatment. The School
Nurses have also paid 170 special visits to the Schools, and 31
visits to the Feeding Centres, and have undertaken 14 journeys
in connection with the admission and discharge of children to
Institutions. All children, referred for the operative treatment
of tonsils and adenoids (356), have been visited by the School
Nurses both prior to and after the operation.
The value of the work of the School Nurses cannot be overestimated
: it is they who come in close touch with the children
and parents in the home, and to the School Nurses belongs the
satisfaction of knowing that it is largely owing to their efforts that
the incidence of disease amongst the children is declining year by
year.
In the early days of the School Medical Service the life of the
School Nurses was fraught with difficulty, anxiety and