[Report 1954] / School Medical Officer of Health, Staffordshire County Council.

  • Staffordshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1954
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1954] / School Medical Officer of Health, Staffordshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    8-yeaf age group. The numbers necessitated some re-arrange- ments, i.e., first, all uncomplicated cases of enlarged tonsils and adenoids were referred directly to General Practitioners and Hospitals and, secondly, the number of the clinic sessions was increased by one-half. With the exception of immunisation against diphtheria, the most striking advance in school medicine since the war has been in the diagnosis and handling of deaf children. In Staffordshire a scheme of diagnosis was put into force early in 1953, and specially adapted education for helping the children was also provided. The first full year’s work of the Audio¬ metrician is recorded in this report, and it will be seen on page 38 that 12,280 children were tested. This number comprises almost all the children in the appropriate age group and corresponds approximately with the annual intake into the schools, so that eventually every school child over the age of 8 years will have been examined by this method. 1,195 children, i.e., 9.7% of the total, were referred for further examination by the County Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist. Of this number, he was able to see 779, of whom 344 required further attention, but all the conditions found were amenable to treatment except in 40 cases. This is most satisfactory preventive work, for the majority of the curable conditions found both at these clinics and the general Ear, Nose and Throat Clinics would have not been treated until much later, and would possibly have caused permanent damage with a high proportion of severe deafness. The children with per¬ manent loss of hearing formed 5.13 per cent, of the total. While one would have been delighted to report that no such cases had been found, it is gratifying that they were discovered early enough to enable special education to be provided. All but three of these cases suffered from partial deafness and those who would benefit were put on the waiting list for admis¬ sion to Needwood Special School for Partially Deaf Children. After a long period of preparation, Needwood School was ready to admit the first group of children in January, and at the beginning the number was limited to 56. This figure was increased, and by the end of the year 100 children were in attendance. Of these, 17 were Staffordshire children. The School will ultimately cater for 146 pupils, which will permit