[Report 1953] / School Medical Officer of Health, Cheshire County Council.

  • Cheshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1953
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1953] / School Medical Officer of Health, Cheshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/28 (page 3)
    INTRODUCTION. To the Chairman and Members of the Education Committee. Madam Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the honour to present my Annual Report on the Schools Health Service dealing with the work done during the year 1953. A full staff of Assistant Medical Officers was maintairied throughout the year. On account of the still increasing school population it has been found necessary to increase the establishment of Medical Officers by one. For the first time for many years, the establishment of school dentists is (at the time of writing) complete. It has been quite obvious, however, that additional dentists are urgently required. Attention is drawn to the Principal School Dental Surgeon’s section of this Report, where it is shown that although fewer children were inspected in 1953 than in the previous year, more permanent teeth were extracted and generally more treatment was found necessary. This is as may be expected; the longer the intervals between school dental inspections, the more treatment is required. It is pleasing to note that the number of conservative treatments has exceeded extractions, arid that the percentage of acceptances for treatment through our School Dental Service has again increased. The reduction in the number of paediatric clinics conducted through the Schools Health Service is not surprising. The County Council were the originators of this service so far as the administrative County is concerned, and shortly before the date of operation of the National Health Service, instituted a paediatric service in which hospital and peripheral clinic facilities were closely integrated. The Regional Hospital Board have extended these hospital paediatric departments so as to make it reasonably convenient to obtain paediatric investigation and treatment in most areas of the County. There is, however, still a need for peripheral clinics at Crewe and Northwich and these are now the only paediatric clinics held under the Schools Health Service. It is hoped that the Liverpool Regional Hospital Board will shortly set up a Unit for Spastic children at Clatterbridge. There is, in this County, an urgent need for the establishment of a residential special school for physically handicapped children including such spastics as are educable. Most of the physically handicapped childreii of school age are receivmg home tuitioi, but this is an inadequate sul stitute for corporate education. There is a need for additional speech therapy clinics which can not be satisfied for the present on account of insufficient staff.