[Report 1947] / Medical Officer of Health, Rutland County.

  • Rutland (England). County Council.
Date:
1947
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1947] / Medical Officer of Health, Rutland County. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    by the late Dr. O'Connor, the late Dr. Wm. Dunn, the late Dr. J.P. Greenwood and Dr. WjM. Hewitt. Fortunately I had had a year and a half experience of school, work prior to my appointment here and I had only to adopt the excellent system devisea by the lato Dr. G.C. Taylor of Berkshire to Rutland and within six months I had completed the medical inspection of the children of tho County. There wore at that time, no'nurses to assist me and it was not until 1915 that the first whole-time nurse was appointed. It was not till 1912 that any - form of treatment was adopted and that was for ringworm of the scalp which at that time was causing serious loss of school attendance. X-ray treatment was undertaken first at Stamford Infirmary and subsequently by Dr. Beaumont of Uppingham and now I have not seen a single case for years. Subsequent to the first Great War, treatment was made compulsory and you adopted schemes drawli up by mo for the treatment of V enlarged tonsils and adenoids, visual defects, dental defects, minor ailments and the sending of rheumatic children to special institutions. In 1911 much of the time of the Public Health Committee was devoted to consultations with the Soke of Peterborough Committee as to the possibilities of my holding the appointment of County Medical Officer to that body in addition to my Rutland one. Towards the end of 1911 I was so appointed and I wcJ.1 remember the remark of that gay and debonair personality, the lato W.J. Deacon, Clerk to the Soke of Peterborough County Council who assured me that their only require¬ ments were for me to take my salary every quarter - a remark typical of the lack of appreciation of the importance to health of the Nation But this , prospect of dignified leisure was very sodn to be disturbed by tho advent of National Insurance and the scheme for the treatment of tuberculous persons. I remember the endless meetings, tfte opposition of the doctors, far more virulent than that oi today to the National Health Service Act, and the resistance to the appointmen of a Tuberculosis Officer which indeed seemed natural in such a small County as Rutland. Fortunately, for years I had. longed to treat those plagues, the white and the black and I gladly consented to undertake this extra work after a refrosher course, I had, during my tenure of office in Berkshire, taken tho opportunity of acquiring tne M.R.CeP. London Diploma in Medicine, For somo time the local Government Board hesitatod to consent to it, but finally with reluotrnce Lhoy did consent. Shortly after my appointment the treatment of consumption was radical! changed by the introduction of artificial pneumothorax - I was at once impressed by the great possibilities and it is one of my sources of pormanent gratification that the Ministry of Health in the early nineteen-twenlios asked me to coniributo to the Burrell and MacNalty Report on this form of treatment. Of course, my appointment as Tuberculosis Officer to the Soke of Peterborough has greally increasec my opportunities in this direction, no? must I fail to record that in this work and in Vonoroal Disease, tho groat help given to me by Nurse W, Neal, the School Nurse, who in her spare time assisted me in these operations and other forms of treatment. Cases have been successfully treated from the commencement at home without having to enter a sanatorium - an enormous saving in money, time and pressure on institutional bods. Glasgow a few years ago adopted a similar scheme with satisfactory results. Your next task in 1915 was to put the Mental Deficiency Act of 1914 into force. This was actively tackled and for many years not only were the number ascertained higher but the number in certified