[Report 1923] / Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer of Health, Swindon Borough.

  • Swindon (Wiltshire, England). Borough Council.
Date:
1923
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1923] / Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer of Health, Swindon Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The condition of the School Medical Service in Swindon is such that it lends itself to research and development to a somewhat unusual degree. The attitude of the inhabitants of the town towards the service ; the appreciation which they show for the benefits obtainable from it ; and their general desire to see the service develop to give them the maximum benefit obtainable ; act as a stimulant to its development, making it possible to keep individual children under constant and prolonged observation, and so relieving the work of research of some of its greatest diffi¬ culties. The School Medical Officer being also Superintendent of the Infectious Diseases Hospital, which now admits a large proportion of the acute diseases-of childhood, is enabled to follow the child, not only in health, but through the process of acute infection ; and as he is also the Clinician to the Child Welfare Centres, he can follow the life history of the majority of the children from birth into adolescence. He therefore possesses the essentials of following through and interpreting conditions which, if seen as isolated phenomena, often appear to be meaningless, but which judged in relation to past history and development bear meanings of far reaching consequence. In conclusion of this subject it may be stated that without due optimism and with all consideration of the failures and disappointments of the past, there is every in¬ dication that if we work hard with the full exercise of our powers and imagination; with full utilization of all scientific progress; m complete collaboration with each other ; and with well developed means for the diffusion of the knowledge of the work performed by each observer, the time will come, and that shortly, when the health of the child can be guaranteed with certainty. MEDICAL INSPECTION. The classes of children submitted to systematic medical and dental inspection were similar to those of past years, namely, ‘ Entrants/ c Leavers,’ and ‘ Intermediates ’ (children born in the year 1914) for Medical Inspection and children born in the • year 1915 for Dental Inspection. In addition to systematic in¬ spection, all defective and ailing children are examined at frequent intervals. During the course of the year about 50% of the children attending the elementary schools are examined and about one third of them receive treatment. The system of medical inspection in vogue covers the whole ground pretty thoroughly, and does not allow any defect of importance to escape detection. ARRANGEMENTS FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT AND RESULTS OF TREATMENT. The additions and alteration to the premises which were taken in hand at the end of the year will enable the clinical work to be