[Report 1958] / School Medical Officer of Health, Wigan County Borough.

  • Wigan (England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1958
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1958] / School Medical Officer of Health, Wigan County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    STAFF CHANGES School Nursing Service: Mrs. J. M. Keenan commenced duty on the 1st January, 1958. Dental Service: Mrs, F. Huntington, Dental Attendant, resigned on the 31st December, 1958. CO-ORDINATION Liaison with the Hospital Servies, the General Practitioner Service and other Local Authority Health Services is achieved in the following manner :—- The Principal School Medical Officer is also the Medical Officer of Health. One Assistant Medical Officer of Health holds appointments in both the School Health Service and the Maternity and Child Welfare Service. The Medical Officer of Health is the executive officer for the Council’s function under the National Assistance Act, 1948, including provision of aid for the handicapped and the work amongst homeless and problem families. A seat on the Local Medical Committee of the Executive Council and on the Medical Advisory Committee of the Wigan and Leigh Hospital Management Committee makes for co-ordination of effort and good relations with the other branches of the National Health Service. During the year every effort has been made to preserve the good relationship which exists between the assistant medical officers of the School Health Service and the general practitioners in the town. Their co-operation is essential to the welfare of the children in our care. None of the School Nurses possess the Health Vistitor’s Certificate, so no joint Health Visitor/School Nurse appointments have been made. No change can be anticipated in this direction until the acute national shortage of Health Visitors is overcome. Friendly co-operation between Health Visitors and School Nurses ensures that the service does not suffer. One Health Visitor on rota attends the Paediatric Clinic at Wigan Infirmary and brings to the notice of the Consultant the social background and environment of the children from the Borough who are attending. She arranges to visit the home in necessitous cases and is available to advise the parents as to the best way of carrying out the treatment indicated by the paediatrician. The E.N.T. Surgeon passes to the School Health Service regular information on children receiving operative treatment or being placed on the waiting list. Many children are referred for Orthoptic treatment.