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defects treated fall under the following headings-
Minor ailments of the skin such as herpes, acne, seborrhoea, eczema, warts of various
kinds, ringworm, impetigo and scabies.
The incidence of the last three conditions has declined sharply in recent years and
the few cases of scabies seen are referred to a special clinic for treatment. Other
skin diseases are seen from time to time such as various forms of erythema, lichen
planus and psoriasis.
Minor ailments of the eyes such as conjunctivitis, blepharitis, styes, foreign bodies
and minor injuries, Some of the external eye diseases are, according to their nature and
severity, sent to the ophthalmic clinic for specialist attention.
Minor ailments of the ears such as furuncles, cerumen, foreign bodies, and the slighter
degrees of earache and discharging ears are treated at the clinics. Cases considered to
require specialist attention are referred, by agreement with the child's general
practitioner, to the ear, nose and throat specialist.
Miscellaneous conditions consisting of a very mixed collection of cases such as septic sores,
whitlows, boils, cuts, abrasions, chilblains and the like. These conditions form the main
mass of the work at minor ailment clinics.
The clinics are open every morning and also on two afternoons a week when the area
doctor is present. The following figures give the number of cases of these kinds which
were seen at the clinics during the year:-
(a) Skin Diseases
1,501
(b) External Eye Diseases
396
(c) Minor Ear Defects
274
(d) Miscellaneous Defects
2,512
Total
4,683
The total number of children who attended the three individual clinics for all
purposes was as follows:-
Clinic New Cases
Stratford 2,054
Balaam Street 2,341
Rosetta Road 2,292
Silvertown 6
It is, of course, necessary for many of the patients to attend on more than one
occasion, and some indication of the volume of work carried out at these clinics will be
obtained from the following table:-
Clinic No. of Attendances
Stratford 8,050
Balaam Street 8,546
Rosetta Road 9,553
Silvertown 11
Total 26,160
The attendances resumed the downward trend which was temporarily interrupted in 1951,
having fallen from 41,746 in 1946. The number of minor ailments treated has dropped from
8,626 in 1948 to 4,683 this year.
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