London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London

Kingston upon Thames 1924

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kingston-upon-Thames]

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36
cloakrooms in the Girls' Department have been re-decorated
internally.
The walls of the lavatories in the Boys', Girls', and
Infants' Departments have been distempered.
A shelter in the playground of the Infants' Department
has been converted into an additional classroom, one side
and part of the front of which can be folded back, in order
that it may be used as an open-air classroom in fine weather.
MEDICAL INSPECTION.
All departments of every school are visited by the
School Medical Officer each term, when Routine Medical
Inspections of the three age groups, re-inspections and
examination of special cases are carried out.
The procedure of the above examinations was set out
in detail in my Annual Report for 1920.

Table: Parents are always warned beforehand as to the hour their children are to be medically examined at Routine Inspections, and the following table is instructive :—

Parents are always warned beforehand as to the hour their children are to be medically examined at Routine Inspections, and the following table is instructive :—

No. of Children Examined.No. of Parents presentPercentage
Entrants,Boys23519583%
Girls21716777%
Intermediates,Boys27114252%
Girls23414863%
Leavers,Boys2647026%
Girls28814450%

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FINDINGS OF MEDICAL INSPECTION.
(a) Uncleanliness.
At Routine Medical Inspections 159 children were found
unclean, as compared with 403, 366, and 126 during the
years 1921, 1922 and 1923 respectively.
The School Nurses at their Cleanliness Surveys found
during the year 547 children unclean.
It remains a fact that many children return to school
after the holidays with unclean heads, so it is now a routine
procedure for the School Nurses to visit all schools within
the first fortnight of each term for the purpose of carrying
out Cleanliness Surveys.