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34
Medical inspection on school premises, in many cases, cannot be
carried out under the best conditions. Only in a small number of
schools which have been modernised, or in immediate pre-war
buildings, are the facilities adequate, i.e., with an examination
room, properly equipped, and suitable waiting room accommodation
for parents. The New Buildings Regulations however make such
provision for the future. The need for parents to be present at
medical inspections of their children is continually stressed through
the opportunities given for health education; and it is hoped that
when mothers are less harassed by the need for industrial employment
and long hours spent in shopping queues, there will be greater
opportunity on their part to accept the invitation to attend all such
examinations. The value of periodic overhauls to the children is
beyond question, though the intervals between examinations are in
many cases too long for securing a maximum benefit. While it is
true to say that parents and teachers may at any time request a
"special" examination, in practice, it is found that incipient defects,
only recognisable to the trained observer, tend to be overlooked until
the next routine inspection, by which time later complications may
have developed more difficult to treat. In the new national health
service proposals, closer supervision may be expected from cooperation
between school medical officers and general medical
practitioners in Health Centres common to both.
Nutrition.
It will be seen from Table 2 above that despite the difficulties of
"emergency" diets there is no material change in the nutritional
condition of the children seen at routine medical inspections. As
this represents a cross-section of the whole of the school population,
the findings are of some significance.
Nutrition Clinics.
Started in 1937 this service has been of special value during
recent critical years, and has ensured that children in need of supplemental
feeding, including free school meals and milk have been
supplied according to their requirements. Children suffering from
physical defects affecting nutrition have received special attention
at these clinics, and where necessary, arrangements have been made
for short-term convalescent home treatment. The necessity to close
the Authority's residential open-air school at Hayling Island during