View report page

78
Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic.
The E.N.T. Clinic is held at Valentines Mansion, the Surgeon attending
one session weekly.
45 sessions were held during 1957 and 588 attendances were made by
257 children of school age, of whom 167 were new cases.
The Consulting Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon (Miss Margaret Mason)
submits the following report: —
" During this year the attendances at the Clinic declined somewhat,
588 children being seen, as compared with 749 last year; 167
of these came for the first time. This drop is partly due to a
decreased number of referrals, and partly to a shorter waiting list
for operative cases, obviating interim attendances.
This short waiting list stood at 22 cases at the end of 1957. Our
children are now operated on at King George Hospital as well as the
Isolation Hospital; in the case of tonsil and adenoid diseases 101 were
treated during the year. These were suspended for a period in the
summer because of a limited outbreak of poliomyelitis, but the Unit
at the Isolation Hospital was kept open during this time for cases such
as sinus infection and deflected nasal septum which could be trea.eu
with safety.
I am pleased to report that during the year we have been supplied
with a small pure-tone audiometer by the Essex Health Department.
This is at present kept at Barking, but with the kind co-operation of
the medical staff there, it is available for our children at short notice.
This is a most valuable acquisition and we no longer have to trespass
on the hospitality of Hospitals in other Groups for this very necessary
testing.
We have again tested and desensitised a number of children with
nasal allergy, a condition which appears to be rather prevalent in the
district, and particularly in children from homes showing a high
standard of living."
The following table shows the work of the Clinic: —
No. Diagnosed
Tonsils and Adenoids Infection ... ... 162
Deafness 24
Otitis Media 5
Mastoid disease ... ... ... ... 1
Rhinitis 41
Other defects or diseases ... ... ... 64
297