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Pelham Road. This promotes a very complete co-ordination of
the services.
(b) No Nursery Schools have been established in Wimbledon.
(c) Children between the ages of 12 months and 5 years are
visited twice a year by the Health Visitors. Debilitated children
are visited more frequently. The Maternity and Child Welfare
Committee have made arrangements whereby debilitated children
requiring convalescent treatment can be sent to recognised
convalescent institutions.
REORGANISATION.
A considerable amount of reorganisation was carried out in
the School Medical Department during the year. Previously,
the routine medical record cards of the children were kept in
class order in the schools. There are many disadvantages to
this system. Consequently these record cards were transferred
to the central office in the Health Centre and placed in card
index cabinets. Here the cards of each department are kept
in alphabetical order. The staff are now able to refer quickly
to the medical record of any child in school. Furthermore there
is no danger of any of the cards becoming lost. There is also
greater accuracy in arranging for the routine medical inspection
of the children in the respective age groups. The cards of the
children due for examination are taken to the schools and
checked with the registers. This new arrangement is working
admirably.
A re-examination card is now made out for every child found
to be defective at the routine medical inspection. This provides
the school nurse with a complete record of all the children
attending that school who require to be followed up. These
children are also re-examined by the Medical Officer at the next
visit to the school. This ensures every defective child being
seen by the doctor at least twice a year.
After every routine medical inspection has been completed,
a form is sent to the Head Teacher of the school containing the
recommendations of the School Medical Officer concerning children
found to be suffering from defects. Such defects as impaired
hearing, faulty posture, defective sight, etc., have an important
bearing on a child's educational progress. Other conditions may
render drilling or swimming inadvisable, and it is essential that,
the Head Teacher should be in possession of this information in
a readily accessible form.
The records of the children examined as special cases at
the Health Centre have also been considerably simplified. Previously
it was possible for a child to have three or four different
medical record cards. This system has been discontinued, and
a simpler and quicker method adopted. A similar reorganisation
has been effected in the Minor Ailments Clinic.
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