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SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICE
GENERAL. There was a further small increase in the
school population during the year. On 31st December, 1947,
there were 25,673 children of all ages on the school rolls, as
compared with 24,655 at the same period the previous year.
Early in the year Dr. D. Pugh resigned his appointment
as Assistant School Medical Officer, and Dr. F. Barasi was
appointed to fill the vacancy, taking up his duties in August.
This year saw the opening of the Ear, Nose and Throat
and Paediatric Clinics. Euller details of the former are given
on page 71. The latter, which did not open until November,
were in charge of Dr. E. Hinden, M.D., M.R.C.P., a wholetime
paediatrician appointed by the Health Committee to Whipps
Cross Hospital under the provisions of the Ministry of Health
Circular 202/46 relating to the employment of ex-Service
specialists. Two sessions are held each week, one at Stratford
Clinic and one at Rosetta Road Clinic. Dr. Hinden also visits
other hospitals, and acts as adviser to Grange Road Special
School in respect of certain categories of physically handicapped
children. The types of child principally seen at the Paediatric
Clinics are—(i) rheumatic and heart cases, in which respect
the Clinics provide a rheumatic supervisory service; (ii) cases
of malnutrition where extensive investigation is required to
elicit the cause; and (iii) difficult cases of any kind on which
the assistant school medical officers want further advice. Any
children requiring hospital treatment are admitted to Dr.
Hinden's own beds at Whipps Cross Hospital.
At about the same time, Dr. Russell, the School Ophthalmic
Surgeon, was appointed by the Health Committee to the staff
of Whipps Cross Hospital in the capacity of Junior Ophthalmic
Surgeon, mainly, but not exclusively, to undertake operative
work on squints and other eye conditions in school children,
and so preserve continuity of treatment in this field also between
hospital and clinic. Dr. Russell devotes one regular session
weekly to the hospital appointment and pays other visits as
required.
Another event of great importance, at least to the children
concerned, which took place during the year was the generous
invitation of the Swiss Red Cross for 41 West Ham children
to visit Switzerland for three months. The party left in March,
under arrangements made through the Swiss Embassy, and
each child went as the guest of a Swiss family. The children
found themselves in such widely different places as Lucerne,
Schaffhausen, St. Gallen, Rafferswil, Winterthur and Zurich.
It was a condition that the children should be selected from
families who had suffered in some way during the war, and who
for health reasons would benefit. Suitable children were nominated
by head teachers in the first place, and from these the
final selection was made on the medical assessment. They were
examined before leaving and on return by the Chief Assistant
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