[Report 1947] / School Medical Officer, Somerset County Council.

  • Somerset (England). County Council.
Date:
1947
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1947] / School Medical Officer, Somerset County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    10/32 (page 8)
    iiionc or assiislcd 1)\ ()|U‘i'at ion. .11' a oliild scjiiinis I’rnni ages '2 lo 7 and during tliut Lime does not receive orthoptic treatment, he will never gain single hinocular N'lsion, \\ hatex'er treatment is gi\en later, hot il a clidd develops the ])Owei' ol tusion (^before lie is d or li) and tlicn sijnints, this power can usually be regained by orthojitic ti’eatment. A child taken on tor orthoptic treatment may require up to ’ill or dl) ti'catments J'rom start to tinish an.d ’ilt to ot) minutes are needed for each ti'eatment. An average is ll> treatments. Homework may also be given. The initial examination for djagnosis of the type ol scpiint and binocular state is of great imiiortance to the oculist and more or less decides whether or not the cliild would benefit from treatment. About 7,7 per cent, of squints require operation and most of these need orthoptic treatment before and aftei' operation. Cases which have no chance of binocular \ision can Inn'e operation for cosmetic cure. Quite a few cases require two or even three o[)erations and it is sometimes advisable to do this in stages. Somerset’s requirements. .\.s no adequate treatment has so far been available in Somerset the number of children who have a sipiint to be dealt with is vei'y high and the surgical treatment needed might be more tlnm could be dealt with without a siiecial system, say with the use of a sjiecial ward at iMusgrove Park llosiiital. In any case jirovision must be made tor surgery on quite a big scale. Without it much orthojitic work would be wasted. In Somerset County Maintained Schools there are about 1,250 children with squints and jnobahly aliout oUO under school age. Every year will add another 125 young children requiring treatment. An orthojjtist deals with about five jiatients per d-hour session. Each patient requires an examination for diagnosis an average of 10 treatments and periodic examination after a course of treatment is finished or after ojieration. Of 1,75U squinting children of school age and under in Somerset, most of whom have never had an opportunity of adequate treatment of their squints, about 500 would benefit if treated now. At a fixed Clinic one orthojitist can deal with about 120 new cases a year, but in view of the travelling involved in Somerset, it is considered that two full-time orthoptists should be enijdoyed—one in the north and one in the south. Alter¬ natively three or more might be employed part-time. DENTAL SERVICE. During the year the number of Dental Officers was gradually increased from eight fo the sixteen required to complete the first phase of the development scheme. The average, on the basis of sessions worked for the year, represents the equivalent of eleven full-time officers. The number of children inspected (38,501) shows a considerable imjirovement over any previous figures bid is still unsatisfactory in that the very minimum must be an inspection of every chihl during the year. With the increased staff we now