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20
CHILD GUIDANCE CLINIC
I am grateful to Dr. G. Crosse, Consultant Psychiatrist,
South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board, for the
following report:—
The key note of the service this year has been the ceaseless effort
to narrow the gap between the demand for consultation, treatment, etc.,
and the supply of available clinic facilities. The current annual assess*
ment shows that the final balance, in much the same vein as in previous
years, is weighed heavily against supply. In fact much hard thought has
been given to the optimum deployment of our slim resources, and to this
end various tactics have been tested out during the year. How to reconcile
the demands of acute urgent cases with those who have waited for
months on a waiting list that is in danger of becoming stagnant, how to
reconcile shortened versions of treatment with the principles of proper
care of the patient, are some of the problems which have had to be
tackled by the staff. Much of theburden of work aimed at establishing
priorities has been carried out by our psychiatric social workers, Miss
M.S. Gradwell and Mrs. E. Gee, and the appointment of Mrs. P. Ollerenshaw
as third social worker late last year has given her colleagues much needed
support. Pressures create pressures, and the expansion of staff to meet an
increasing case load has in turn created problems of accommodation at the
clinic. These have more or less been resolved by the good will and
common sense of the staff members concerned, but it is now absolutely
clear that the present cljnic premises will just not be big enough to cope
with an expanding service.
The Day Unit continues to be in demand and its role in coping with
the seriously disturbed children should never be underestimated. Some
children, awaiting residential placement, are too ill to attend day school
and one or two in this category have been supported by the unit staff for
almost a year. This is an appropriate moment to record the sad death of
Mr. D.G. Griggs, the first to hold the appointment of Charge Nurse to the
unit, and there can be no higher tribute of his devotion to the work than
the manifest grief shown by the children who were under his care. His
successor is Charge Nurse H. Allen who was appointed from the staff
of Warlingham Park Hospital. He is assisted by Staff Nurse Mrs. J.
Furnish whose experienced and mature handling of so many of the disturbed
children is appreciated by all who know the unit well. Another
appointment was that of Mrs. A.M. Ball who replaced Mrs. B. Tindle as
teacher to the day unit. The latter was seconded to a course at the
University of London for the education of maladjusted children. The new
appointments of a music therapist, Mr. F. Knight, for two sessions a week
and Mrs. J. Glass, art therapist, for two sessions a week, has enabled
the clinic to develop further therapeutic activities.