[Report 1946] / Medical Officer of Health, Birkenhead County Borough.
- Birkenhead (England). County Borough Council.
- Date:
- 1946
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1946] / Medical Officer of Health, Birkenhead County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![No attempt has been made to treat aphasic cases, due partly hj the fact that daily treatment given over a number of years is required to be effective, and partly to the existence of a waiting list of the more normal speech defects that will gain more benefit by attendance. There is sufficient work for a full time Speech Therapist, as at present the children are attending for treatment only once a week instead of twice. Time has been alloted this year by Mrs. Peel to visiting the schools, where the interest and co-operation of the teachers (in giving up-to-date information of the progress of the children) have proved most valuable. The establishment of contact with the homes would b»i advisable, thereby gaining the full confidence of the parents, but until a full-time Therapist is a])pointed this is out of the cpiestion. Municipal Skin Clinic During the year 1946, 2,145 attendances were made by children of school age at the Municipal Skin C’linic which was under the care of Dr. E. Blackstock and the Xurse-in-('barge. Miss Beattie. The transfer of the clinic to the new premises, tlie former First Aid Post in Balls Koad, was effected in danuary and has allowed treat- ment to be carried out on much more expeditious lines than was formerly possible. The Skin Clinic is now fulfilling a useful function in connection with Section 48 (3) Education Act, 1944, in so far as in all agreements made with Local Hospitals for treatment of School Children, the majority of skin conditions have been excluded from those for which the L.E.A. will accept liability for payment. It will be noted that there is a decrease of over 1,000 in the atten- dances in the year compared with 1945. This must be attributed to the fact that an efficient Skin Clinic is lieljung to reduce the incidence of skin conditions, and to the fact that all contacts to infectious skin conditions are immediately traced, examined and given any treat- ment required, thus preventing reservoirs of infection from unwittingly passing the infection to others.. It must be recognised how'ever, that until such time as over- crowded conditions in housing and schools etc. is overcome, impetigo, scabies and other infections and verminous conditions will continue to be seen at the Skin Clinic in fairly large numbers. General The poor standard of clothilig and cleanliness, noted in previous years, is now showing some improvement. This is, no doubt, due to a combination of factors, but mainly, it is hoped, to greater interest on the part of the parents. Although there is a good deal of contro- versy on the subject of the present day diet the standard of nutrition would appear to be no worse than in previous years, and in some respects to be better. A comparison of the heights and weights of boys and girls entering and leaving school in 1938 and 1946 shows a slight increase. A com- parison of the nutrition standards for the same years shows a decrease in those deemed to be excellent. This, however, is quite likely to be](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28927400_0040.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
