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To the Chairman and Members of the Heston and Isleworth
Urban District Education Committee.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg to present the Annual Report of the School Medical
Service for the year ending 31st December, 1920.
The arrangement is somewhat different to that of previous
years and follows the lines suggested by the Board of Education
in their circular letter dated December, 1920.
During the year Dr. Simpson, resigned his position as
Assistant School Medical Officer, and Dr. Eva Cairns Roberts was
appointed as his successor. Her work among the children has
been very successful and she has contributed largely to the
popularity of the school clinics.
The appointment of an additional Health Visitor, has proved
a great help and it may be anticipated that the numbers of
children treated will continue to grow. During the year the
number of special cases seen was 2,041, necessitating 6,681
consultations, compared with 1,586 involving 5,236 consultations
in 1919. Thus the numbers passed through the clinics have
increased. It will also be observed that the number treated at
the Dental Clinic has been considerably augumented. Expansion
to this extent has not taken place without taxing very severely the
clerical staff in the Health Department, and they deserve the highest
praise for the manner in which the medical records have been
kept. I would remind the Committee that the clerical staff stands
numerically as it did in April, 1919, when Dental Inspection and
Treatment were in their infancy, certificates for employed children
were not needed, there were fewer Eye Clinics and the Inspection
and Treatment Clinics were held only thrice, instead of seven
times weekly. Nominally the clerical work of the School Medical
branch is performed by two clerks, but in reality it requires
three, so that a revision of the amount of remuneration paid for
this service seems indicated.