§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children were seen by school nurses in the course of hygiene inspections in 1979 and each succeeding year; and what percentage were subsequently referred for medical examination or treatment.
§ Mr. WhitneyI regret that the exact information requested is not available. Relevant information which is available centrally is shown in the table. It would be extremely unusual for pupils to be referred for medical examination or treatment solely because of infestation.
School health service in England Hygiene inspections Year Examinations of pupils in schools by school nurses or other authorised persons* (thousands) Pupils found to be infested† (thousands) 1979 14,500 161 1980 14,573 180 1981 14,223 189 1982 12,795 170 1983 11,682 173 1984 9,402 132 Individual pupils may have more than one examination during the year.
†Number of individual pupils, not instances of infestation.