[Report 1920] / School Medical Officer of Health, West Bromwich.

  • West Bromwich (England). Council.
Date:
1920
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1920] / School Medical Officer of Health, West Bromwich. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    10/22 (page 8)
    J 8 cheaper rate than any quoted by West Bromwich opticians. The contract was very slightly higher than the quotation of a London firm, but the advantages of obtaining glasses from a firm that cloud readily be visited by the School Medical Officer or the child when necessary, was rightly held to more than compensate for the slight additional cost of the spectacles. In all cases the spectacles are delivered to the School Clinic and actually fitted by the doctor who prescribed them ; an}?- error being thus immediately found out and rectified. Payment for the spectacles is made by the parents at the time, or by instalments, and every endeavour made to secure complete payment. During the year 1919 a report was presented to the Education Committee by the School Medical Supervisor drawing attention to the congestion which was occurring at the School Clinic. The number of cases coming up made it impossible for them to be dealt with as quickly as desirable. In spite of the fact that children from the outlying schools were not sent up until after the first hour of afternoon school, the amount of school time lost was very considerable. It was therefore recommended that the schools should be grouped, and that sub-clinics should be opened at Hill Top, Spoil Lane and Greets Green Schools, at which the children of these and neighbouring schools could be treated by the School Nurse after the initial visit had been paid to the School Medical Supervisor, at the Central Clinic, and instructions issued on the Clinic Card. After some discussion it was decided to open one sub¬ clinic at Hill Top School as an experiment, and a small room intended to be used as a conservatory was consequently fitted with a gas ring, and a few necessary instruments and utensils, and the treatment of minor ailments in children attending Hill Top, Golds Hill and Black Lake Schools was commenced in this room on April 20th. During the remainder of the year, the nurse paid 142 visits to this room, and carried out 2,935 treatments. Many mild cases of impetigo were treated without the necessity of waiting to be seen by the doctor, any case thus treated which did not immediately clear up being sent down to the Central Clinic for medical advice. There is no doubt that this procedure was of great advantage to all concerned.