NO ACTION HAS YET BEEN TAKEN BY DEPARTMENT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18615, 17 November 1928, Page 2

NO ACTION HAS YET BEEN TAKEN BY DEPARTMENT.

POSITION OF LINWOOD AVENUE SCHOOL.

No action has yet been taken by the Health Department regarding the attitude of the Linwood Avenue School Committee in continuing the classes below standard 2 in defiance of the instructions issued by Dr T. Fletcher Telford, Medical Officer of Health for the Canterbury District, but the Direc-tor-General of Flea Ith (Dr T. FI. A. Valintine) will arrive from Wellington to-morrow for the purpose of conferring with Dr Telford. Dr Telford expressed the opinion this morning that the head master of the school, in refusing to carry out the instructions given to him by the Education Board regarding the closing of the school, had probably rendered himself liable to suspension by the Director of Education. “In requesting the Education Board to suspend the classes below standard 2 I was only carrying out the instructions issued to me by my superior officers,” Dr Telford added. The case of the Sumner District High School, where there has not been a case of scarlet fever in the infant 'department since the beginning of August, was mentioned to Dr Telford. Fie said that no exception could be mad© in this case, and the suspension of the lower classes had to be of general application in order to be effective in checking the spread of scarlet fever. Although there had not been any cases at the Sumner School recently two had been reported recent ly from Redcliffs, which was in the Sumner district. Five additional notifications were received to-day, as follows: Sydenham 2, Ellesmere County 1, Rangiora County i, Timaru 1.

DID NOT GIVE FOUR HOURS’ NOTICE OF OFFICIAL VISIT.

DR TELFORD DENIES ALLEGATION MADE BY AN EX-PATIENT.

An allegation that he had given four hours’ notice to the matron of the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Bottle Lake of his intention to visit the institution recently, accompanied by the Director-General of Health, Dr T. H. A. Valintine, was denied by Dr T. FTetcher Telford, Medical Officer of Health for Canterbury, in an interview this morning. The allegation was made by an expatient of Bottle Lake Hospital, who expressed the opinion that the principle of giving notice of the intention to make an official visit to such an institution was entirely wrong. Dr Telford said that it was customary for him to be at his office at ten minutes to nine o’clock every , morning, and on the day in question he left the office with Dr Valintine at ten minutes past eleven o’clock and went straight to Bottle Lake, remaining there until just before one o’clock, when he left to meet the Ashley Countv Council. It was just when he was arranging for the car that he suggested to the Director-General that it would be a good opportunity for him to go down to Bottle Lake to ascertain the types of scarlet fever patients that were there. “ The reason the matron was telephoned in advance was that I wished to see two particular children whose mothers had interviewed me, in order that I might be able to report to them subsequently,” Dr Telford added. “The matron was rung up, therefore, in order that these children would be handy and that no delay would be caused in having to have them rounded up at the hospital. Between the time of, ringing up and our arrival at the hospital was not more than half an hour at the most. * Finally I may state that in four visits out of five I go down to the Bottle Lke Hospital without giving any notice whatever, and, therefore, if anything were obviously wrong at the time of my visit it would be my duty to report such fact to the Director-Gen-eral of Health as a matter of routine in order that he could take the subject up with the Hospital Board.”