[Report 1945] / School Medical Officer of Health, Essex County Council.

  • Essex (England). County Council.
Date:
1945
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1945] / School Medical Officer of Health, Essex County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/24 (page 3)
    4. Medical Inspections. The co-ordination l)et\veen the medical stafl's of the Public Health and tlie School Health Services mentioned in previous re])orts has continued. Routine inspections liavc been carried out as far as possible in spite of sliortage of staff and other difficulties. Table I at the end of the Report shows that 58,7H6 children were examined in the routine groups and 60,503 specials. Roughly, one-tliird of the number of children attending scliool, therefore, had a routine examination, which is a fair proportion of the number of pupils on books, as three of the nine age groups attending school were examined. It will be noticed again that the numbers examined are fairly evenly distributed in the routine groups. * Under the Handicapped Pupils and School Health Service Regulations, 1945, the routine groups for next year will be all pupils (1) admitted for the first time to a maintained school ; (2) during the last year of attendance at a primary school; and (3) during the last year of attendance at a secondary school. It is lioped that, when sufficient staff is available, and particularly in view of the raising of the school leaving age on the 1st Aj^ril, 1947, arrangements will be made for a further group to be medically examined, as it is felt that the gap between (1) and (2), i.e., between the ages of five years and eleven years is too long. Hitherto, children have been medically examined in the routine age groups at five, eight and twelve years of age. Pupils attending the secondary grammar schools are medically examined at entrance and on attaining the ages of twelve and fifteen years. 5. Treatment. Circular 29 of the Ministry of Education, dated 12th March, 1945, calls the attention of the Local Education Authority to their duty under Section 48 (3) of the Education Act, 1944, to secure that comprehensive facilities for free medical treatment other than domiciliary treatment are available for all pupils in attend- ance at schools and county colleges maintained by them. The purpose of the Circular is to indicate the methods by which the existing school health service can be expanded pending the implementation of the National Health Service Act, 1946. After consideration of this Circular the Education Committee recommended :— (а) That approval be given to the extension of the School Health Service to provide for the normal facilities of the School Health Service, viz. :— treatment of minor ailments, diseases of the ear, nose and throat and defective hearing, diseases of the eye and defective vision, orthopaedic and dental treatment, child guidance, speech therapy, and the treatment of rheumatism, and in addition, on the approval of the School Medical Officer in each case, the hospital treatment of all other conditions, except those for which the local authority already luive a statutory function including the provision of any necessary appliances, at no cost to the parent. (б) That the appropriate officers be authorized to negotiate with the British Hospitals Association and the King Edward Hospital Fund,