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22
SCHOOL MEDICAL INSPECTION—ORSETT
DISTRICT.
I am pleased to record an increase in almost every
branch of the School Medical Work of this district
during 1931. This may be attributed to the provision
of extra school medical inspectors and to the fact that
arrears of inspection amounting to sixteen departments,
outstanding from 1930, were completed. To facilitate
comparison the figures for both years appear side by
side.
One of the most unsatisfactory features of the work
of the district consists of the non-provision of a wholetime
Dentist. This, as stated in last year's Report, is
a most pressing need. The part-time Dentist has been
so fully occupied in treating urgent cases that dental
inspection for conservative treatment has not been
carried out. It will be seen that during the year only
one School received a dental inspection. The School
Dentist arranges to carry out one inspection per month
on the third Tuesday. Owing to the continual congestion
of the waiting list almost every one of these
occasions has had to be used as an extra Dental Extraction
Clinic. The present arrangements are utterly
inadequate, and I hope the matter will receive early
attention.
The Orthopoedic Clinic has continued to carry out
useful work, and it is to be hoped that changes in the
personnel have finished. The After-Care Clinic is
staffed by lady members of the St. John Ambulance
Brigade, for whose help I am indebted. One point
attaches to this which cannot be emphasised too
strongly. The School Nurses are employed half-time
on School medical duties, and half-time by Grays
and Tilbury Councils respectively. With the increase
in the former great care has been necessary to
ensure that County work should not encroach upon the
local Councils' time, and should the voluntary workers