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The fact that the mother has brought her child for some specific difficulty and not
because there is a reflection on her management of him encourages her to pour out her
troubles; she will often accept advice readily from a clinic doctor and the mere talking
about her difficulties is a tonic to her. The doctor by recommending a child for boarding
open air school or recuperative holiday, thereby relieving tension in a family, may save
a complete breakdown. The nurse at the clinic often knows the family well and so has a
valuable contribution to make. The social worker, a children's care organiser in the
public health department, is in constant touch with the school care organisation and thus
has reports of the home and the child's progress at school. Her training and knowledge
of the social services enable her to co-ordinate to the family's advantage the help that
can be given by other agencies and all concerned endeavour as a team to prevent
family breakdown.
An example of what is being done is a 'hard core' family, the despair of everyone
concerned, and in whose case the only solution appeared to be to take into care the
children. The problem was discussed in the light of all the information available and as a
result it was decided to ask for a special home help, for two children to be sent to boarding
open air school and two children to a nursery school. This family so improved that the
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was able to discontinue
supervision.
Clinics are often held in health or welfare centres where other services such as the
home help service, the health visiting service, the dental service, are available and as
co-ordination with other social workers is as important as a good relationship with the
family, it is an enormous help to have a good everyday relationship with them. A child
from a problem family was in urgent need of dental treatment and was seen by the
dentist and dental attendant after an appointment made at special investigation clinic
where the mother—who until then had always been 'anti-dentist' as her husband
believed all fillings fell out !—was persuaded to attend the clinic. The child subsequently
received treatment.
As indicated earlier special investigation clinics with their appointment system and
nursing and medico-social help, provide better conditions for the handling of difficult
problems by the medical officer than would be possible at school medical inspections.
It may be that these clinics will prove most useful in the field of mental health, with
advances corresponding to those made in this field in the care of the pre-school child.
School
treatment
centres

* Several of these are ' twin ' surgeries.
† Specialists provided in most cases by regional hospital boards.
‡ In addition to 27 in day E.S.N., 16 in PH., and 7 in residential schools.
** Includes nutrition (see page 102).
Treatment
of school
pupils at
hospitals
The co-operation between the London school health service and the hospitals dates
back to the earliest days of the school health service, a Children's Care Organiser being
appointed as long ago as 1911 to the London Hospital to direct the flow of patients and
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