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The defects found at periodic and special
medical inspections are shown in Table 31.
Uncleanliness and Verminous Conditions
School nurses make examinations of children in
regard to cleanliness of person and clothing and
the presence of lice or their eggs (nits). At one time
all pupils were examined at least once each term
but as uncleanliness of person or clothing is now
rare, flea or body lice infestation almost unknown,
and the incidence of head lice greatly reduced,
such regular examinations are not now held. The
nurse now visits schools to carry out these
examinations at the request of the head teacher or
where there are grounds for suspecting the
presence of infestation. During the year the school
nurses carried out 10,353 examinations and found
lice or their eggs in the hair of 173 individual
pupils. Today there is no excuse for such
infestation and the infested pupils are now usually
members of a hard core of families on whom
neither persuasion nor threats seem to have any
effect. In most cases the parents deal with the
matter as soon as their attention is drawn to it,
but 73 formal notices requiring the parent to
cleanse the child had to be issued, and in 8 cases
where the parent had failed to respond to the
formal notice a cleansing order had to be issued
for the pupil to be dealt with by the school nurses.
Foot Inspections
School nurses make regular foot inspections to
discover the presence of plantar warts and other
contagious skin conditions of the foot. During the
year 14,405 foot inspections were carried out and
565 new cases of plantar warts and 29 cases of
re-infection were found. A pamphlet was prepared
for and was issued to school children.
Medical Treatment
Certain treatment facilities continue to be provided
under arrangements made by the local education
authority and parents may use these or seek
treatment otherwise under the National Health
Service. The following notes refer to the treatment
facilities provided as part of the school health
service. School clinics are listed later in the report.
Minor Ailment Clinics
These are staffed by nurses and are held at clinic
premises each mornnig. Here are treated slight
injuries, skin infections and minor defects of eye
or ear. The number of attendances is falling and
most sessions now take no more than 30 minutes.
School Consultation Clinics
These are staffed by a medical officer and regular
sessions are held at the various clinic premises.
Parents are free to take their children for advice
on any condition and pupils may be referred by
head teachers, school nurses, etc. and these
sessions also provide facilities for the follow-up of
conditions found at periodic and special
inspections. Where active treatment is required,
the pupils are referred to their own doctor or
specialist clinics and most of the work done by the
medical officer is advisory, educational or
supportive.
Ophthalmic Clinics
Dr H B Casey MB BCh DOMS, ophthalmologist,
reports on the work of the ophthalmic clinics: —
'The number of pre-school and school children
who have attended the eye clinics at Feltham,
Hounslow, Brentford and Isleworth during the
37