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I am indebted to Mr. II. W. Butler, the Orthopædic Surgeon,
for the following review of the cases seen at the Health Centre.
"Work was continued during the year on the same
general lines as previously, and without any radical
changes.
It appeared to be definitely noticeable that the
children with postural curves of the spin,e attending during
this year as new patients were caught at an earlier stage
of their deformity than previously, and that therefore the
chances of getting good results with this type of case were
increased.
Early and mild curvatures, especially high kyphoses
of the 'round shoulders' type, are often masked by the
patient during a routine medical examination and only
seen in the early days as an habitual posture in school
or at play, so that this appeared to suggest a welcome
increase in co-operation by the school teachers.
The Orthopædic Nurse has obtained, as previously,
some very good results with these postural deformities of
the spine by remedial exercises, work which requires
much patience and the ability to evoke co-operation by
both the child and its parents.
The difficulty of getting some mothers to attend with
their children when coming for exercises, so that they
may supervise these intelligently at home, has been unavoidable
at times in the past year. Many of the fathers
have been unemployed, so that the mothers, when
possible, have had to go out to work.
When the high standard of health of Wimbledon
school children is considered, it seems unlikely that the
work done by the Orthopaedic Clinic will increase markedly
in the near future, but I believe that the Clinic, as at
present constituted, can, and does, carry out very useful
and necessary work."
(i) Heart Disease and Rheumatism. Children suffering from
heart disease and rheumatism are sent to Certified Special
Schools for treatment. The majority of these cases are admitted
to the Heart Home, at West Wickham.
In all, seven children were admitted to such institutions
during the year. Four of these children were suffering from
heart disease, two from recurring rheumatism without cardiac
complications, and one from chorea.
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