[Report 1959] / School Medical Officer of Health, York City.

  • York (England). City Council.
Date:
1959
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1959] / School Medical Officer of Health, York City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Miss E. M. Johns, M.A., Educational Psychologist attached to the Child Guidance Clinic, attended a Course concerning Hearing and Mental Assess¬ ment of the Deaf Child, which took place from the 27th to the 29th May. Dr. M. C. Barnet represented the School Health Service at the monthly meetings of the co-ordinating Committee for the Care of Deprived Children. Dr. F. B. Shevlin attended meetings of the Council of the School Health Group of the Society of Medical Officers of Health in London, and also a Civil Defence Course held at Sunningdale. He gave a talk on “Standards for School Medical Inspections” to a week-end Conference of County Borough Medical Officers of Health held in York under the Presidency of Dr. Crane. Mr. Graham Turner, L.D.S., attended the Annual Conference of the British Dental Association in Torquay from the 25th to 29th May. Houseparent Training Course Following the success of the first year’s pioneer course held in 1958, an¬ other was held in 1959 at which lectures were given by Dr. Crane, Principal School Medical Officer, Mr. Graham Turner, Principal School Dental Officer, Dr. Shevlin and Dr. Barnet. Miss Mather, Superintendent Nursing Officer, assisted with the training of the 21 students attending the Course. Parent - Teacher Associations Talks have been given to various groups of these associations by members of the staff of the School Health Service during the year. Tuition outside School Premises Fourteen York children, 9 from the North Riding, 6 from the East Riding and 2 from the West Riding, were provided with tuition in York hospitals during the year by the Local Education Authority. In addition 4 York children were given tuition at home. Non-notifiable Infectious Diseases At the beginning of the year, particularly in February, some of the schools experienced a low average attendance because of the children succumbing to feverish colds. There was no specific influenzal epidemic. A small attack of infectious hepatitis affected one school over the first three months of the year, four of the cases coming from one household. In another school a small epi¬ demic of “pink eye” affected some 11 children in an infant department. Recruitment of Professional Staff Great difficulty is being experienced in recruiting medical, dental and nursing staff to fill vacancies in the Service as they occur. No applications were received in response to two series of advertisements for a male School Medical Officer. Repeated advertisements for School Dental Officers over a number of years only produced one applicant, who subsequently proved un¬ suitable for a full time appointment. Two temporary full time nurses help to keep the work of the department going, but great difficulty is experienced in recruiting either Health Visitors, or nurses willing to train as Health Visitors.