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92
1. STAFF.
A list of the Staff of the School Medical Department will be
found on page 88 of this Report.
2. CO.ORDINATION.
Suggestions for the co.ordination of the various health services
of the County Borough have been fully discussed in previous
reports, and I have indicated the general outline of an administrative
scheme which should result in complete co.ordination, greater
efficiency and, ultimately, a very apparent economy.
One of the most urgent problems facing us at the present
time is the supervision of the health, and the prevention of physical
defect in infants and children under school age. Although the
School Medical Service is fully equipped for dealing with these
children, difficulties arise out of the fact that supervision and
administration are performed by two Authorities, one of which
is concerned with the pre.school child and the other with the school
child.
The various suggestions, put forward from time to time, for
ensuring the medical inspection and supervision of children under
school age, not excepting the provision and maintenace of Nursery
Schools, do not appear to offer an economic solution.
The average parent in East Ham cannot afford the time to
visit two or three different Centres, especially for the medical
examination of children who are apparently healthy or even in
those cases where a parent feels that a child is not progressing
quite satisfactorily.
The work of the Health Visitors and School Nurses in the
homes cannot be too highly estimated but, whilst they are in the
position of being able to advise and encourage the seeking of
medical attention for infants and children who exhibit obvious
defect, nevertheless the absence of a definite scheme, for the routine
medical examination of children under school age, prohibits the
possibility of discovering incipient and latent manifestations of
physical defect and thus precludes any complete application of the
principles of preventive medicine.