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NUMBER OF TONSILS AND ADENOID OPERATIONS PERFORMED DURING 1952:
School Children 65
Maternity & Child Welfare 4
In addition to the tonsil and adenoid operations performed by Mr. Scott, 123 are
known to have taken place elsewhere. 879 children were treated for various conditions
affecting the ears, nose and throat; 323 of these were given treatment at minor ailment
clinics. Details of the ascertainment of deaf children are given below and on page 86.
HEARING OF SCHOOL CHILDREN. The methodical testing of school children by the
gramophone audiometer was continued until November, when the audiometrician resigned her
appointment. Before she left she had completed years' work, and it is now possible to
give a preliminary Judgment of the value of this service. During this time some 73 children
with diminished acuity of hearing were detected and sent to the aural clinic. Some of these
were already known (a few of them being under observation for other related conditions), but
in 35 of them the disability had not previously been suspected. These children have now had
the benefit of specialist guidance or treatment and, where necessary, some appropriate
modification of the normal educational regime. The progress of their disability can also be
observed and further help given if at any time it appears likely to impede their education.
This work covered the initial survey of the schools and many of the cases brought to
light were doubtless of more or less long standing. Any future repetition is likely to
discover only the occasional old-standing case which may have been missed through absence
when the earlier tests were in progress, and the few new cases which may have arisen afresh
during the interval. Whether these numbers would be sufficient to Justify the effort and the
disturbance of the school routine could only be told by experience. They are likely to be
small, however, and might not warrant the employment of a whole-time audiometrician for the
purpose. The policy to be adopted in future requires consideration.
As indicated in previous years, the test is not suitable for young children because it
requires an ability to write down figures from dictation. To make it easier to do this, and
consequently, perhaps, to enable the test to be extended to a slightly younger age-group than
before, a new record was used which speaks one figure at a time instead of the previous two.
To enable a reliable hearing test to be given much below eight years of age, however, some
new technical advance will be needed.

Out of this number tested it was found necessary to refer the 46 children found
defective to the area doctors for further examination. They, in turn, found it necessary to
refer 20 children - 13 boys and 7 girls - for specialist opinion, the remainder being remedied
by simple treatment at the clinics.
75