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at the special clinic at Plumstead Reception Centre—in 1970, 231
patients were seen, whereas in the previous year 293 were seen.
Dr. Michael Clarke, Lecturer in Social Medicine, St. Thomas's
Hospital, and FPA doctor, Blackheath FPA Clinic Youth
Advisory Session, undertook an interesting survey on the utilisation
of FPA services in the London Borough of Greenwich. He
undertook this to confirm or refute the suggestion often made that
this Association provides services for a disproportionate number
of middle class patients. He collected reliable information from
clinic cards of all new patients in the Borough; the information
on the husband's occupation was translated into Social Class
Groupings using the standard tables provided by the Registrar
General. These Groupings were then compared with similar data
obtained for the whole population of Greenwich. This showed
that the patients attending clinics in Greenwich represented a
cross-section of the population of the Borough as a whole although
the largest group of patients were middle class, which is understandable
as this is the largest group of people in Greenwich.
There were, however, marked differences in the different clinics,
reflecting the wide range of class distribution in the Borough.
An interesting new development in Greenwich is the Hospital
Visitors' Scheme. F.P.A. trained visitors spend some time each
week at the British Hospital for Mothers & Babies, St. Nicholas
Hospital, Plumstead, and the Military Hospital, Shooters Hill,
seeing maternity patients and giving them information about
family planning and addresses of clinics near their homes. For
those patients who wish it, an appointment is made at a clinic so
that they may attend on leaving hospital.
Greenwich is al9o providing a service for sections of the
community who could be referred to as "newcomers to family
planning"—Asian women, West Indians, Irish girls, Cypriots,
Greeks, Turks, Roman Catholics, etc. Most of these people are
influenced in their behaviour by heritage, traditions and customs—
the Asians and West Indians have little in common except that
both these peoples shared the background of the extended family;
the deep sense of guilt suffered by the Irish woman (and many
others) if she accepted the idea of birth control; and so on. However,
the clinics now welcome as patients peoples from many
countries and varied beliefs and the numbers are increasing daily.
Family planning services in Greenwich are now being fully
used and need for extension is evident."