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109
all of whom were under the supervision of the County Council's
Home Teachers. At the same date five blind residents were participating
in the Home Workers Scheme operated through the agency
of the Royal London Society for the Blind and one was employed
in a workshop for the blind. In addition, there were twenty-nine
blind and fifteen partially sighted persons employed in open industry
and under the supervision of the Council's Placement Officer."
PREVENTION AND ALLEVIATION OF BLINDNESS
Copies of the Memorandum on this subject issued by the
Ministry of Health early in 1958 were distributed to all medical and
nursing staffs. The following items were included in the instructions
then issued.
Special notes should be made on the infant welfare record
cards of all babies whose history includes prematurity or
maternal illness, especially rubella during pregnancy or toxaemia,
haemorrhage, difficult labour, neonatal anoxia or jaundice.
These cards should be conspicuously marked, e.g., with a red
tab for follow-up purposes, and where there is any suspicion of
visual defect, a report should be made to the medical officer
for an ophthalmic examination to be arranged.
Children whose parents suffer from myopia or who have a
history of familial visual defect should be similarly treated.
The vision of school children should be checked at regular
intervals, but school nurses should ensure that any child absent
at a routine medical inspection is not overlooked. The school
nurse should also report every case of squint in order to ensure
that adequate treatment is being or will be given.
The health visitor will be increasingly concerned with the
welfare of the elderly and should report to the family doctor
any deterioration in the vision of old people. Elderly people
may be unaware of the gradual failure of their vision, especially
if, at first, one eye only is affected and incipient blindness can
be detected much earlier by a trained observer.
Defective vision is a most potent cause of accidents both
at home and on the roads.
Recent advances in the medical treatment of eye conditions
has so improved the prognosis for many that it becomes
increasingly important for early ophthalmological examination
to be arranged.
All blind and partially sighted persons should be encouraged
to register so that they may benefit from the help available
from the Ministry of Labour and the County Council, e.g.,
blind welfare workers and the voluntary bodies concerned with
the welfare of the blind.