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Statistical Summary. 1966 (1965 figures shown in brackets)
Total No. of sessions held at clinics 3,926 (4,039)
Total No. of appointments booked 30,707 (29,992)
Total attendances 28,331 (28,205)
Analysis of attendances
Children 0-4 years 3 (-)
5-14 years 1,495 (1,427)
Adults Male 4,945 (4,661)
Female 21,888 (22, 117)
Total 28,331 (28,205)
Total No. of sessions held at old people's homes 27
Total No. of appointments booked 257
Total attendances 257
Total No. of domiciliary appointments booked 1,016
Total No. of treatments given 968
Total No. of transport appointments booked 190 (included in the
Total attendances 169 clinic figures above)
Prevention of Break-up of Families
The Co-ordinating Committee has continued to meet at two-monthly intervals.
During the year case conferences on individual families were held on 7 occasions and
29 families were considered. Of these 20 were referred for discussion because of rent
arrears.
Students of Social Work
Four students, two from the London School of Economics and two from the College
of Deaf Welfare, came to the department during the year. Of these, one came for
experience in family casework and the others for general observation of the services
provided by the department.
Venereal Disease
At the request of one of the Venereologists at the Royal Northern Hospital the
Council appointed a Social Worker to work with patients and their contacts. The Social
Worker, who is based at the hospital, started work in March, 1966. Much of her time is
spent in contact tracing and in following-up patients who fail to keep up attendance
at the clinics, and she is also available to interview new patients and to refer on
those who appear to need help from other agencies.
The Social Worker attached to the special clinic at Holloway Prison has emphasised
the difficulty of tracing contacts either because of the unwillingness of patients to
give information or because the information given is insufficient. Of 154 contacts 97
remained untraced at the end of the year.
Of 104 patients who left the prison before treatment could be completed, 54 are
known to have attended other clinics, but the Social Worker points out that others may
have attended and given names different from those by which they were known at the
prison.
Mental Health
The work of the Mental Health Section continued to expand during 1966.
During the year the services of a part-time consultant psychiatrist were obtained
to act as consultant to the Mental Health team and to advise on the development of
services for the mentally ill, including day centres. Happily there were no changes in
the social work staff during the year and the community care service developed steadily,
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