View report page

54
been further encouraged by the staff meetings which have been held regularly throughout the year.
Outside speakers are very often invited to attend and there have been a variety of subjects including
prison after-care, alcoholism, drug addiction and integration of immigrants into the community.
In addition, case work discussions are held fortnightly and are found to be of great support and
benefit to the staff.
In reviewing the work for 1967 the social workers report not only an increase in the number of
people they see, but comment is made on the increasing complexity of problems with which they
deal. Work with families having multiple problems continues and we are trying to establish an
"early warning system" as families are often more constructively helped if referral is made at the
earliest signs of breakdown. One social worker is employed full time in working with families who
have special difficulties and he has made 624 visits during the year. Some of the other staff carry
a limited case load of such families in addition to their other duties.
There are five Special Investigation Clinics held where children attend for help in connection with
behaviour disorders, failure to make satisfactory physical and educational progress and for treatment
for enuresis. Children are normally referred through the school health service, but it has been found
that an increasing number of parents ask for appointments themselves. Every opportunity is given
at the Clinic for parents to discuss with the medical officer and the social worker any problems they
may have. As well as clinic and office interviews 258 home visits were made during the year and the
number of children attending the clinics at the end of the year was 111; 88 had been discharged
throughout the year. The social workers at these clinics meet regularly to discuss common problems
and to review the progress made.
In connection with the work undertaken for children who are deaf or partially hearing, a social
worker made 54 visits during the year to the child's home or school and attended 544 interviews
at the local audiology clinic.
An increasing amount of work is now taking place in the Department in helping clients through
what may be a period of crisis, e.g. when parents realise for the first time that their young child is
handicapped, or later when this child is referred for special education. Several of the staff now spend
part of their time with clients requiring "emergency" help. These are mainly self-referred and may
be, for instance, acute marital problems or threatened eviction. During the year 170 visits were
made in this connection.
The three social workers who are concerned with the needs of old people have made 6,079
visits during the year. They deal with the more complex problems, especially of those who are
housebound and who require special facilities. They work very closely with the Old People's
Welfare Association and other voluntary organisations as well as with hospital staff and general
practitioners. Every effort is made by our staff to help to keep the old people in the community if
this is their wish. One of the social workers has a special responsibility for ensuring that when an
old person moves into accommodation in the City all the relevant services are alerted so that the
person settles into his or her new home as easily as possible.
Five social workers are now employed full time at three hospitals which have special clinics
for the treatment of venereal diseases. During the year two additional staff were employed which
means that much more efficient working arrangements can be made as one social worker is always
available in the clinic while the other is visiting. In addition to tracing contacts and following up
defaulters and arranging for their treatment, they have been dealing with an increasing variety of
problems. Not only do they give much help of a practical nature but they undertake a considerable
amount of casework with individual patients. During the year they made 1,717 home visits and
interviewed 1,724 patients in the clinics.
The three social workers at the Chest Clinics report that the variety of problems they have dealt
with during the year has not diminished, e.g. housing and financial difficulties, extra nourishment,
grants and employment problems. Often, however, case work of a deeper kind is involved when,
for example, a patient is suffering from a terminal illness and support is being given to the other
members of the family. The number of home visits made during the year was 100 and the number
of cases being dealt with at the end of the year was 306.
The report concerning work with immigrant families is given separately by the Assistant Principal
Social Worker.
Two interesting projects were undertaken during the year by two members of the staff. The first
was in connection with the problems confronting unmarried mothers and the services provided by
both voluntary and official organisations for the unmarried mother and her child. The detailed
report which set out the results of the study was presented to the Housing, Health, Children's and
Welfare Committees in May. The Committees felt that it would be helpful if all the organisations