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
Wimbledon 1933
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wimbledon]
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the average number of children attending for treatment per
session has been continually increasing during the past four
years.
In addition, much greater time is devoted to the filling of
permanent teeth. As a consequence of this, the number of
temporary teeth filled has dropped from three hundred and fiftysix
in 1929 to five in 1933.
(h) Orthopaedic and Postural Defects. Sessions of the
Orthopiedic Clinic, which was commenced in July, 1931, were
held every month during 1933.
Sixty-six new cases were seen and two hundred and twenty
cases were re-examined. The average number of children seen
by the Orthopædic Surgeon per session was twenty-six. During
the previous year the figure was twenty-two.
The following table shows the nature of the defects from which the children were suffering.
| Congenital Defects | 9 |
| Infantile Paralysis | 9 |
| Hemiplegia and Diplegia | 3 |
| Birth Paralysis | 1 |
| Old cases of Osteomyelitis | 1 |
| Old amputations of limbs | 1 |
| Trauma | 6 |
| Deformities due to previous Rickets | 6 |
| Tuberculous joints (arrested) | 1 |
| Pseudo-coxalgia | 1 |
| Tumour of bone | |
| Flat foot, knock-knee, pes cavus, etc. | |
| Postural defects | 64 |
| Other defects | 9 |
| Children not suffering from orthopædic defects | 7 |
| Total | 140 |
The following table gives an indication of the treatment carried out through this Clinic:—
| Number of children referred to Pyrford for in-patient treatment | 6 |
| Number of children referred to St. Thomas's Hospital for in-patient treatment | 4 |