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The report on the School Health Service gives a reassuring picture of the health
of the school child. For the third year in succession no cases of malnutrition have
been discovered either at medical inspections or at the nurses' nutritional surveys.
The numbers of children referred to the paediatric and the ear, nose and throat clinics
is tending to decline and there is a substantial reduction both in the attendances and
the number of cases seen at the minor ailment clinics. It is conceivable that this
might be partly due to a transference of some of the work to hospitals and general
practitioners, but medical officers working in the schools and clinics have gained the
impression that these ailments are not occurring so frequently and that the picture
presented by these declining trends is on the whole a true one. The report also shows,
however, that there still remains a need for careful supervision of the children's health
by the School Health Service. Many children still face their school life with some kind
of physical or mental handicap which, in greater or lesser degree, impairs their ability
to respond to normal education. As the more obvious manifestations of ill-health recede,
more attention can be given to ways and means of helping these children and of offering
guidance in the various medical problems which may beset a child's school career. In
those directions, and in the contributions which it can make towards the better understanding
of the physical, mental and emotional needs of the developing child, seem to
lie the future of the School Health Service.
In conclusion, I would wish once again to express my grateful thanks for the
support which the Committees have so generously afforded me and for the devoted service
of the staffs of all departments which have contributed towards another successful year's
work. Without them, little of real value could have been accomplished.
I am,
Mr.Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Your obedient servant,
P. ROY DENNISON.
Medical Officer of Health
and School Medical Officer.
Municipal Health Offices,
223/5, Romford Road,
Meat Ham, E.7.
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