View report page

21
Mrs. E. Goad, was appointed in April, to work as a part-time
Audiometrician in the Coulsdon and Purley area. We were sorry to
lose Mrs. Roberts at the end of the Summer Term. Her place was
taken by Mrs. J. Margetts.
For additional statistical details, see Appendix B, Page 54.
CHILD GUIDANCE CLINIC
The Child Guidance Clinic in Croydon has hitherto been provided
entirely by the Regional Hospital Board. The Report of the
Underwood Committee, which was published in 1955 recommended
that Local Education Authorities should assume responsibility
for the provision of Child Guidance Clinics and for ensuring
adequate ancillary staff whilst the hospital services should
provide suitable specialist medical staff. Dr. Crosse had indicated
his willingness to accept consultant psychiatric responsibility
for the whole area of the new Borough and on 2nd February
1965 the Education Committee agreed to provide the additional
ancillary staff.
I am grateful to Dr. G. Crosse for the following report.
"The extension of the clinic catchment area associated with
the creation of the London Borough of Croydon was reflected in a
sharp rise in the number of children referred for psychiatric
attention. Since these new commitments were unaccompanied by any
increase in medical staff, the waiting list which had previously
been negligible soon acquired a depressing length. However, the
secondment of Dr. Mills from the School Health Service for two
sessions a week and a general drive to accelerate the turnover
has reduced considerably the waiting time for new appointments.
The practice of seeing urgent cases (such as school refusal)
without delay continues. It is hoped that the increase in the
establishment of one psychiatric social worker, one psychologist
and one typist will help the clinic to balance supply against
damand.
The important new clinic project which is being developed is
a Day Hospital Unit for severely maladjusted children. Plans
have been completed for this unit to be housed on the ground
floor of the clinic and it is hoped that an early appointment of
a charge male nurse/nursing sister will get the project off the
ground. The unit will fill a big gap in the service in as much
as it will facilitate the treatment of autistic children and
other clinical groups whose therapeutic needs are not adequately
met either by orthodox outpatient attendance or admission to
the inpatient unit at Queen Mary' s Hospital for Children at
Carshalton.