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 1954
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Walthamstow]
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school in order to escape the mockery. Children can be very cruel
to each other.
"I should like to thank the Assistant School Medical Officers for referring the children to me, and the general practitioners for granting them permission to do so; and my colleagues, the Pathologist and Radiologist at Whipps Cross Hospital for kindly offering me the facilities of their laboratories."
| Over 5 years | Under 5 years | |
|---|---|---|
| New cases | 104 | 32 |
| Total attendances | 161 | 53 |
| No. of cases | 62 | 36 |
| Referred to hospital | 32 | 9 |
| Discharged | 22 | 13 |
| (a) Eneuresis | 57 | 1 |
| (b) Other | 1 | 1 |
| Referred to hospital | 39 | — |
| Discharged | 4 | 1 |
(h) Speech Therapy.—Treatment centres are provided at the
Old Education Offices, High Street, and at the Open Air School.
The arrangements of previous years have continued in regard
to the selection and reference of children for speech therapy. Cases
are brought forward as a result of medical inspection and reinspection
and by reference through Head Teachers. In order to
exclude any medical condition and in order to assess the degree
of the speech defect to negative the possibility of deafness, partial
deafness, or of a psychological cause of the defect, a full medical
report is recorded on the case papers sent to the speech therapist.
The School Medical Officers are invited to follow up their cases
during the course of treatment and arrangements have been made
for a review of the case, preferably by the School Medical Officer
who referred the case, and before discharge from treatment.
Miss C. M. Gregory, who resigned in August, submitted the
following report before she left:—
"Only 80 children have been treated so far this year, a marked
decline on last year's total figure of 144. This drop may be
accounted for by the fact that only 14 new cases have been sent
in by the school medical department. All these newcomers were
six years and over.
"Forty-five school visits were made, 50 interviews were given
and 5 home visits paid for follow up purposes.