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Disturbance of School Arrangements.
No one supposes that the ordinary school curriculum is not disorganised to some extent by
the needs of medical inspection especially where all the available accommodation is required for
educational purposes. The Head Teachers of the district, however, do their best to make the
arrangements satisfactory, but I should like to place on record, as a legacy of my office of School
Medical Officer, one unsuitable arrangement, where the medical section has to use accommodation
which is unsatisfactory from the medical point of view.
It is most annoying to have the constant hum of an electrical transformer when one is
trying to get the minor and elusive sounds in some delicate child's chest. Some day one hopes,
when one is in one's grave, the perspective with regard to the medical side of school life, particularly
in respect of school buildings, will be appreciated. As an example, the design for the
Medical Officer's Room at the Hounslow Heath Senior School appeared on the plan to be an
improvement on what existed at the time elsewhere, but when it came to filling in the details it
was not appreciated that the room which looked fairly comfortable on the plan would be
mutilated by the whole of one wall being occupied by the electrical apparatus, thus taking off a
considerable portion of the room.
5.—FINDINGS OF MEDICAL INSPECTIONS.
Minor Ailments and Diseases of the Skin.
A total of 672 cases of various skin diseases were reported during the year, and with the
exception of 24 cases, all were referred for treatment. As usual, impetigo was the commonest
disease. Table II shows that there were 284 cases of "other skin disease"; these include such
conditions as eczema, alopecia, seborrhæa, warts, etc.
Visual Defects and External Eye Disease.
Routine medical inspections revealed 253 cases of defective vision, 162 being referred for
treatment. Ten cases of squint were also discovered, 7 being referred for treatment.
At the Special Clinics, 31 cases of defective vision and 5 of squint were referred for treatment.
One case of keratitis was referred for treatment.
Twenty-five cases of minor disease of the eye were discovered at routine medical
inspections, and 254 cases were discovered at the Special Clinics.
Nose and Throat Defects.
Four hundred and thirty-seven children were found to be suffering from chronic tonsillitis,
and of these 194 were referred for operation.
Fifty-six children had Adenoids only, 32 being referred for treatment and 24 for
observation.
In a further 198 cases both conditions were present, 119 children being referred for operation
and 79 for observation.
Ear Disease and Defective Hearing.
Amongst children examined at the routine medical inspections, 32 cases of defective
hearing were marked for treatment. A further 68 cases were referred for observation.
Special examinations at the Clinics account for 55 cases of defective hearing, and 227
cases of ear disease.
Dental Defects.
A total of 9,883 children were found requiring treatment at routine dental inspections in
the schools. Table IV., Group V, on page 50 gives further statistics in this connection.
Orthopaedic and Postural Defects.
Eighty-seven cases of deformity of varying degrees were discovered by inspections at the
schools and at the Special Clinics.
Heart Disease and Rheumatism.
Eleven cases of heart trouble were found during the year to need treatment, whilst 58
cases were marked for observation. Eighteen cases of Rheumatism were found to need treatment,
and 12 were marked for observation.
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