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
Walthamstow 1948
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Walthamstow]
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First attendances number 5,086 against 4,776 in 1947, and
re-attendances 11,404 against 11,018, the total attendances being
16,490 against 15,794.
(d) Visual Defects and External Eye Disease.—Dr. Sheppard
has kindly contributed the following account of the work done
during 1948:—
There were 585 new cases seen at the Eye Clinic during 1948 and these, as well as the ordinary periodic inspections, made 3,378 attendances. The following tables summarise the defects found in the new cases:—
| Condition. | Under 7 years. | 7—11 years. | Over 11 years. | Secondary Schools. | Total. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys. | Girls. | Boys. | Girls. | Boys. | Girls | . Boys. | Girls. | Boys. | Girls. | |
| Hypermetropia | 9 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 38 | 31 |
| Hypermetropic Astigmatism | 3 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 10 | 28 | 35 |
| Myopic Astigmatism | 1 | – | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 16 |
| Mixed Astigmatism | – | – | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Myopia | – | 3 | 6 | 8 | 43 | 37 | 32 | 21 | 81 | 69 |
| Various | 30 | 35 | 9 | 10 | 48 | 86 | 16 | 23 | 103 | 154 |
| Totals | 43 | 47 | 38 | 45 | 124 | 154 | 65 | 69 | 270 | 315 |
The details of the group described as various are made up as follows:—
| Defects. | Boys. | Girls. | Total. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squint | 36 | 46 | 82 |
| Headaches, anaemia, styes, debility, amblyopia, etc. | 34 | 58 | 92 |
| No visual defects | 33 | 50 | 83 |
| Totals | 103 | 154 | 257 |
Lately, in many cases, there has been a long delay in obtaining
glasses after they have been ordered, but this appears to be inevitable
in consequence of the introduction of the National Health Service
Act, 1946. In the case of partially sighted children however, delay
is often serious, and greater priority should exist for such children
to obtain either new or replacement glasses.
The facilities for the higher education of the partially sighted
child with vision which is not very defective appear to be somewhat
unsatisfactory. Children with a high degree of defect, say 6/60 or
6/36 are well provided for at the Residential Schools of the National
Institute for the Blind, i.e. Chorley Wood for girls and Worcester
for boys, but there does seem to be difficulty in providing further
education for children with visual defects of say 6/24 or 6/18 in
order to fit them to proceed to Universities.