[Report 1925] / Medical Officer of Health, Bedfordshire County Council (County of Bedford).

  • Bedfordshire (England). County Council. n 50055519.
Date:
1925
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1925] / Medical Officer of Health, Bedfordshire County Council (County of Bedford). Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    same age. The same condition has also been found amongst the Leavers; there is a marked improvement shown on the pre- war child. “The amount of work to be done in the School Medical Service has steadily and greatly increased since the start in 1908 “ In 1911 the re-examination of children, who had been found at previous examination to be suffering from defects, was initiated, and during the year 440 children were thus re-examined. Each year the number of children re-examined increased till in 1914 it was over looo, and in the last few years it has averaged over 1100 per year. “ In 1919 a third age group, i.e., the children between 8 and 9 years of age, was added by the Board to the regular routine examinations, so that while in 1910 the number of children examined was 4322 and in 1911 was 4484 including re-examina- tions, the numbers have now risen to 6721 in 1924 and 6899 in 1925. That is to say 50 per cent, more children have now got to be examined in the year than was the case in 1911 “ In 1909 79 per cent, of those examined required treatment, which Professor Kenwood states compared favourably with the rest of England, in 1914 this had fallen to 37 per cent, while in 1925 only 22 per cent, of the children examined in Bedfordshire required treatment, which is about the average for the whole of England at the present time. “ This improvement is mostly to be found in the older children who have been under supervision all their school life ; for while before the war the large majority of those requiring treatment were the children leaving school, now the number of leavers requiring treatment is just about the same as that of the entrants, the majority of serious defects have already been attended to after the child has been inspected as an entrant, intermediate, or as a special. Once parents began to really appreciate the value of medical inspection it was found that while the number of children requiring treatment steadily fell, the number of those obtaining treatment rose, so that the percentage of under 40 per cent obtaining treatment in the first few years of inspection has now risen to about 70 per cent. “ 1 he enthuiastic co-operation of teachers in getting the parents of their .scholars to have them treated, has contributed very largely to the increased percentage treated.