View report page

17
CHILD GUIDANCE CLINIC
I am grateful to Dr. G. Crosse, Consultant Psychiatrist,
South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board, for the
following report:—
It is a pleasure to begin this review of the year's work with a report
that the waiting list of new patients has been kept well under control and
that the time lag between referral and first consultation has been considerably
reduced. This was achieved through the co-ordinated effort of all
members of the clinic staff who were sustained by the knowledge that resources
for maladjusted children in the borough were soon to be substantially
reinforced by the opening of the Sir Cyril Burt School for day and
residential maladjusted pupils. The documentation required for admission
to this school was completed for a number of children and one should record
that the year closed with the opening of a bright new chapter in the borough
services for maladjusted children - the actual admission of such children to
a school on the door-step of their homes. The untold benefits of these facilities
have yet to be seen but any institution which can bring the whole
family into the treatment setting has an immeasurable advantage over schools
far removed from the homes of its pupils. A formal arrangement for the clinic
team to consult with the teaching staff of the Sir Cyril Burt School is now in
force and the opportunities for such personal contact have paved the way for
communication of vital information gathered from ongoing casework.
In many ways it has been a memorable year. Discussions and plans for
the new purpose built premises to house the School Psychological Service,
the Tutorial Class, the Child Guidance Clinic and Day unit, have borne fruit
in the shape of an acceptable design for such a building, and we look forward
to the day when the new centre will finally put the seal on the present
close functional links between all disciplines serving the needs of maladjusted
children in Croydon.
An expansion of our pre-school children and parent's group necessitated
its transfer from the Lodge Road clinic to our central premises, and the
children's group is now supervised by a full complement of day unit staff.
The parent's group is seen separately by Dr. S.M. Ring and Mrs. V. Jackson,
and the success of this venture illustrates the considerable economics in
professional time that can be gained by group techniques. Mrs. Jackson and
Mrs. P. Ollerenshaw are now attending an Institute of Group-Analysis Training
Course and it is envisaged there will be a much greater clinic emphasis on
group treatment projects in the future.
Patients referred from the New Addington area find the journey to the
main clinic expensive and time consuming and it is worth recording that the
New Addington clinic, inaugurated a few years ago, is now housed in the new
comprehensive Parkway Health Centre. Dr. M. Wright and Miss M. Gradwell
attend the clinic once a week and between them they have organised a session
which provides both diagnostic and treatment facilities for local referrals.