[Report 1949] / Medical Officer of Health, Weymouth & Melcombe Regis Borough.

  • Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1949
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1949] / Medical Officer of Health, Weymouth & Melcombe Regis Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/44 (page 17)
    The above table indicates the reduction in head infestation which has taken place during the last six years. It shows that during 1949 only 1.3% of individual schoolchildren in this area had dirty heads, and while this low figure is not to be regarded with equanimity, it certainly compares favourably with the incid¬ ence of head infestation in schoolchildren throughout England and Wales. There are no comparable statistics available nationally for infestation in adults and pre-school children. In his Report as Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Education for the years 1946 and 1947 (published in 1949), Sir Wilson Jameson describes the statistics on head infestation as profoundly disappointing. These figures show that for the Country as a whole 9.7 per cent, of schoolchildren were found to have dirty heads in 1946, while in 1947 the figure was 9.3 per cent. In these two years our local figures were 3.8 per cent, and 1.67 respectively. To what factors can we ascribe our relatively low head infestation rate ? Here, each schoolchild is examined just over five times each year—and family contacts of any infested child are energetically followed up—while the national figures show that throughout the Country a cleanliness inspection took place just under 3 times each year. At these inspections, our School Nursing Sisters are assisted by two Nursing Assistants who relieve the qualified staff of many routine duties thus enabling them to concentrate on their more professional work. It is of interest to note that arrangements of this kind are commended in the Chief Medical Officer’s Report referred to above. These Assistants carry out their duties most efficiently, and they are well liked by both parents and children. Chiropody Clinic During the year there was considerable correspondence between the Town Council, the Dorset County Council and the Ministry of Health as to who was responsible for this service. It would appear that in due course, the County Council will assume financial responsibility, but in the meantime the Town Council has decided that the facilities, originally provided in 1934, must continue to be available. The services of Mr. John Williams, M.Ch.S., have been very much appreciated and 565 attendances were made at 50 sessions. Mortuary The Town Mortuary in Commercial Road continued to be used both as a Mortuary and as a Post Mortem Room, but it appears that increasing use is being made of the better facilities for P.M. examinations at the Weymouth and District Hospital.