[Report 1944] / School Medical Officer of Health, Devon County Council.

  • Devon (England). County Council.
Date:
1944
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1944] / School Medical Officer of Health, Devon County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    3/68 (page 1)
    Annual Report of the School Medical Officer, 1944 INTRODUCTION. To the CHAIRMAN and MEMBERS of the DEVON COUNTY EDUCATION COMMITTEE. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the honour to submit my Annual Report upon the work of the School Medical Service in the County during 1944. Follov/ing upon the developments and improvements in the Service which took place in 1943 and which were recorded in my last Annual Report, and while planning and stoking up for the new bound forward and re-organisation which will come during 1945 under the Education Act, 1944, the year 1944 has been one of quiet consolidation with only minor improvements to report and few great defects, among which, however, should be mentioned the hygiene of some of the school premises, in which conditions, bad before the war, have still deteriorated owing to the impossibility of getting the required work done. The position as regards physical training and children’s posture also remains unsatisfactory, as does the restricted working of the scheme for treating ear disease and preventing deafness (due to lack of hospital beds for the purpose), the low proportion of schools for which a safe Tuberculin Tested or Pasteurised Milk Supply is obtainable, and the difficulty in obtaining accommodation in Special Schools for all the handicapped children that need it. On the other hand there has been a great extension of the benefits of school feeding with a reflected improvement, reported on all sides, to the apparent mental and physical well-being of the children. Arrangements have also been made to test the staffs of the larger school cooking centres periodically with a view to reducing to a minimum any risk of the carrier- spread of diseases of the typhoid and dysentery group. Mention of mental well-being, however, leads to the observation that reports on the mental health of the children are often relegated to obscure corners of School Medical Officers’ Annual Reports, and generally the mental health of the children has in the past had less attention paid to it than the physical condition. I therefore especially commend for attention the report and recommendations of the Acting County Psychiatrist. Indeed, so bound up with mental health is the whole matter of general education, that one is tempted to point out that “ Education ” is as much a part of “ Health ” in general and the School Medical Service in particular, as is Health an essential aid to Education. I again take the opportunity of expressing my appreciation of the work of the professional and clerical staff, and more especially of that of Dr. Lishman, my Deputy, who chiefly has been responsible for the compilation of this report. I have the honour to be. Your obedient servant. L. MEREDITH DAVIES.