[Report 1934] / Medical Officer of Health, Darlington County Borough.
- Darlington (England). County Borough Council.
- Date:
- 1934
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1934] / Medical Officer of Health, Darlington County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![Procedure.—Operations arc advised by niy Stad only after every medical measure—gargling, syringing and general tonics, etc.—has been tried and after repeated examinations by often more than one Olficer of the Staff over a ])rolonged period duly recorded. Further, I am not aware of ()}w single child ivho has been sent for surgical treatment from the Clinic without firstly obtaining the consent of the parents. Card jM.1.1. referring the parent to the family doctor is given in }n’aetically every case. Over 200 such cards were issued last year. Our ju’ocedure and system of records have been favourably commented upon l^y the Board’s Medical Inspectors, and to make com})arisons with any other towns is in- vidious, because one cannot standardize or assess methods of ‘d‘ollow-up” when dealing with ^'arious separate institutions as exist throughout the country. Here in Darlington I can, however, say that we do ki\ow through our cordial relationships, our interchange of o])inions and records with the Hospitals, the tloetors, the Clinics, and the schools, what is happening to practically every child in the course of the year and hence the completeness of our returns. During the past few years your attention has been drawn to the dilliculty of long waiting lists at the Hospital, and how in 1931 and 1932 better arrange- ments had been made by us to hasten treatment and to see to it that parents did not unduly postpone the neeessary decision to have the operation per- formed. Arrears were largely eleared up so that in 1933 the number of operations for defects of the nose and throat numbered only 169 (1'6% of school children). Taking the average for the last six years, including Nursery Classes, Special and Secondary Schools, the figure is 239 out of 11,000 children (2'2%), while the figures for the other Boroughs and County Boroughs in England vary up to 8'5% (London 3'5%). In the statistics just prepared for 1933, I find that in 3,797 Code Group children 123 (3T%) were referred for this treatment (medical and surgical) while 631 were referred for observation over a prolonged period. I also note with pleasure that whereas we had seven deaf children attending Special Schools in 1927, there are only four receiving such expensive specialized training, a fact for which I claim our scheme has been largely responsible. It is also significant that there has not been a death for over two years from Diphtheria, a disease mainly attacking unhealthy throats, a unique record in the country. Knowing the miraculous results from the operation in suitable cases, it borders on the criminal to withhold advice or operation, or to place any obstacle in the way, legislation for which is provided in the Education Act of 1921. From my own personal knowledge of the defects and infections of Darlington school children, and as far as comparative figures can be accepted, I can assure you that no unnecessary operations have ever been recommended in Darlington, and the results due to specialist treatment, as urged by Sir George Newman, have been above reproach. A few years ago the operation was rightly regarded with more trc}ii- dation than is now the case. Refusals were more common, waiting lists accumulated, and defects became aggravated. To-day, however, diagnosis](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29149162_0108.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
