[Report 1950] / Medical Officer of Health, Dudley County Borough.

  • Dudley (England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1950
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1950] / Medical Officer of Health, Dudley County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Invariably these children return from Malvern very much improved in health. They are transformed in appearance and look fit and happy and have greatly enjoyed their term at the school. It may be said that there has never been a failure, although sometimes a child needs another term at the school if, after his return home, he is exposed to adverse environmental conditions. (15) Astley Burf Camp As in previous years 60 pupils went to this Camp each week from Monday to Friday throughout the summer months. They are accompanied by teachers and their classes are held in the open air. This Camp is situated near Stourport, Worcestershire, in beautiful surroundings and not far from the River Severn. All the children are examined by School Medical Officers before going to the Camp. (16) Rotary Boys’ House, Weston-Super-Mare I am again indebted to the Dudley Rotary Club for providing a free fortnight’s holiday at Weston-Super-Mare for 24 boys. The boys selected are convalescent or debilitated children, or pupils whose parents could not otherwise afford them a recuperative holiday by the sea, and the sea air, with good food and regular meal times, combines with the community spirit of the House itself to provide a welcome and inspiring change of air and surroundings for boys who might not otherwise have a holiday away from home. (17) International Help for Children Sixteen girls and nine boys went to Luxemburg or La Rochelle under the auspices of the International Help for Children Organisa- tion and the children were examined before proceeding. (18) School Dental Service The record of work done during the year is shown in Table V. It is an improvement on last year’s work because it has been possible to maintain a very limited service throughout the year. As I stated in my annual report last year the School Dental Service had to close down for six months during 1949 due to the lack of dentists. We still have one part-time dentist who is gallantly attempting to cope with the work of three full-time dentists. The service is, of course, hopelessly inadequate but at least something is being done to meet urgent daily demands. The most important part of the work how- ever, school dental inspection, is being sadly neglected and with it, the main object of the School Dental Service, viz. the prevention of dental decay before the childrens’ teeth get beyond the scope of conservative dentistry. It is hard to say how long this era of false teeth and false economy must continue, but every effort is being made to resuscitate our School Dental Service and I sincerely hope I will be able to give a happier report next year. (19) Work of the School Nurses All nurses doing school work are also health visitors and this is one of the best features of the service since the nurse knows the child