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109
"The Council of the London Borough of Greenwich decided to
implement the National Health Service (Family Planning) Act,
1967, as from 1st April, 1968, and to use the Association as its
agents for this purpose.
The terms agreed with the Association were that
(a) No fees would be charged to any patient for medical
advice and examination;
(b) No charges would be made for drugs and appliances
supplied to patients where a further pregnancy would be
detrimental to health, and
(c) That charges would be made for drugs and appliances
supplied, except in necessitous cases.
The loss of income to the Association consequent upon no fees
being charged would be met by means of an underwriting grant
of £10,000. Thus the Association's costs would be guaranteed, but
by the same token they would forego the possibility of making a
surplus, as in the past, which would be used in discharging their
charitable function in other parts of the country.
Put another way, it meant that the action of the Council removed
the need for charity in Greenwich and thus the Association had no
such function to discharge in the Borough.
The free advice was greatly appreciated by the women attending
the clinics and they were the best means of making the new service
known. The consequence was a large increase in the number of
women seeking contraceptive advice and, it is hoped, a corresponding
decrease in the number of unwanted births.
This increased attendance placed a great strain on the existing
clinics and it was necessary to increase the session times and to
open one new clinic.
At Abbey Wood the clinic time was increased from 2 hours each
week to 3 hours every other week.
At Charlton Lane an additional session was opened on Tuesday
afternoons, and at Garland Road additional sessions are held on
Tuesday afternoons in the 2nd and 4th weeks each month.
A new clinic was opened at Shooters Hill and filled up so rapidly
that it has now been necessary to make an application for an
additional evening session.
In the realm of purely preventive work the special clinic at the
Plumstead Reception Centre has continued to prove its worth.
Many of the residents there, already suffering from the effects of
their fecundity not being matched by their financial resources, were