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The treatment at the hospital includes operative, electrical
and massage treatment, remedial exercises and the supply of
surgical appliances, and is carried out under the direction of an
orthopaedic surgeon.
Payment is made to the Hospital Authorities by a per capita
grant contribution in respect of East Ham scholars sent to the
Hospital through the School Medical Service.
All children referred by the Authority's Medical Officers to
the Hospital for treatment are kept under observation at frequent
intervals at one or other of (he School Clinics, in order that the
progress of the cases may be watched and recorded, and to ensure
that treatment has not been allowed to lapse. If at any time such
a case fails to attend the School Clinic it automatically becomes included
in the following up list of one of the School Nurses. A large
amount of work has been undertaken at the Hospital and has
been highly satisfactory.
During the year 1927, 26 out-patients and 3 in-patients have
received orthopaedic treatment. The total out-patients attendances
was 605, whilst the average number of weeks involved in the
case of each in-patient was 9.4.
(j) The Light Clinic.
At the commencement of the year 1927 the Local Education
Authority installed two arc lamps in the Town Hall Clinic : a
quadruple carbon arc lamp of the radial type for general
therapeutic purposes and a single tungsten arc lamp for local treatment.
Although the Clinic is only available on two sessions per
week for this form of treatment very satisfactory results have been
obtained in the cases treated. A certain amount of unwarrantable
disrepute has fallen upon actino-therapy and, in all probability, this
is due to the fact that the general public, and unfortunately also
some medical practitioners, have formed the opinion, as is so often
the case with newly introduced therapeutic agents, that ultra-violet
radiation is a panacea. Whereas, as a matter of fact, much harm
may be done in certain cases by unskilled and injudicious use, and
careful examination and complete diagnosis is a very essential preliminary
to actino-therapy, frequent re-examination to determine
the effect and to assess the dosage being also essential. In this
connection it is obviously highly important in cases of malnutrition,
debility, anaemia and so-called pretuberculosis to eliminate at the