[Report 1959] / School Medical Officer of Health, Gloucestershire County Council.

  • Gloucestershire (England). County Council. n 50061360.
Date:
1959
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1959] / School Medical Officer of Health, Gloucestershire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    CHILD GUIDANCE SERVICE Cheltenham, Gloucester and North County Child Guidance Clinics Throughout 1959 these Climes were without a full-time Medical Director. In addition, there were absences from sickness amongst the Clinic staff. Work has had to be dealt with under difficult conditions by two part-time psychiatrists and the situation was reflected in the waiting list when the year closed (Table 8, page 23). It was hoped that a full-time Medical Director would be appointed by the Regional Hospital Board early in i960. South Gloucestershire Child Guidance Clinics There has been a small but steady decrease of children referred each year since 1956 to this service. Table 9 (page 25) details the v/ork carried out in 1959. MILK IN SCHOOLS At the 31st December, 1959, the number of departments receiving pasteurised milk was 508. Five were on a Raw Tuberculin Tested supply, compared with 9 in 1958. Seven hundred and twenty Pasteurised and 18 Tuberculin Tested milk samples were taken and 8 pasteurised samples failed the prescribed tests. There were 6 failures in the Raw Tuberculin Tested milk samples, all of these the result of poor keeping quality. All the Raw Milk samples were submitted for biological examination and evidence of Brucella Abortus Bacilli was found in one sample. The percentage of children on the roll taking milk at all schools was 76.6 per cent, being highest (89.9 per cent) in the Primary Schools and lowest (57.3 per cent) in the Secondary Schools. SCHOOL MEALS SERVICE The number of meals increased from 8 million to 8,240,000. Approximately 40,000 meals were served each school day. The percentage of school children taking meals increased by 1.6 per cent to 57.8 per cent. The percentage of children receiving free meals v/as 5 per cent. At the end of the year there were 261 self-contained canteens, 138 dining rooms and 7 central kitchens. TUBERCULOSIS Following the report that a teacher was suffering from active pulmonary tuber- culosis, arrangements were made for tuberculin tests and X-ray examinations where necessary. The parents of one child refused to co-operate. Fifty-five children gave negative reactions and four positive, one of whom had already been vaccinated with B.C.G. The children with positive skin tests all had normal X-ray examinations. Information was also received that a child at a Secondary School had been admitted to hospital suffering from extensive adult type tuberculosis of the lungs. Investigations were made at the school without revealing a source there. One hundred and eighty-nine children and members of staff had X-ray films which were all normal. Mass X-ray Examinations As a result of the publication of the Adrian Report which advised that repeated Mass X-ray of children without special precautions, and particularly of children who were not at risk from tuberculous infection, was not without possible danger, arrange- ments for routine Mass X-ray examination have now been discontinued. It will, however.