View report page

83
County Borough of East Ham Education Committee.
TO THE CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF THE
EDUCATION COMMITTEE.
Ladies and Gentlemen,—
I have the honour to present my Annual Report upon the
School Medical Service of the County Borough of East Ham for
the year ended 31st December, 1928.
The average school attendance during' the year approximated
closely to 18,750.
The number of routine and special cases of elementary school
children examined totalled 13,663, as compared with 11,122 in 1927,
and a medical inspection of all children in the Girls' Department of
the Secondary School has also been carried out.
The percentage of children found, at routine medical inspection,
to require some form of medical or surgical treatment, was
10.4 and, although this figure somewhat exceeds that for the year
1927 (8.6)—it will be remembered that I indicated, in my report
for last year, that the latter figure appeared to be rather exceptional—there
is a definite downward trend in the number of
defective and unhealthy children in the schools. (See table showing
Finding's of Medical Inspection on page 91).
There has been no outstanding development or new departure
in the School Medical Service during the year and, whilst the
apparatus and other facilities are available for considerable elaboration
and extension of the activities of the service, the possibility
of increasing its scope is prevented by the insufficiency and inadequacy
of clinic and office accommodation.
The question of providing suitable premises for the conduct of
the Medical Services of the Borough is a very pressing one. I
have endeavoured, so far as staff and equipment are concerned,
to ensure that no useful means of preventing the occurrence of
disease, ill-health and invalidity has been overlooked, but with
the provision of suitable and adequate accommodation a much
wider application of these methods could result.