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140
Child Guidance
Through various sources, cases of psychological disturbance
come to light and are referred, if necessary to the appropriate
Child Guidance Clinic.
These Clinics, which are spaced throughout the district, are
held in Hospital premises except at "The Willows," Red Hill,
Chislehurst, which is the Council's own premises. The remaining
Child Guidance Clinic sessions are held at Farnborough Hospital,
"Stepping Stones," Bromley Hospital and at Sydenham Hospital,
which serves the Borough of Bromley although it is outside the
geographical limits. One Consultant Psychiatrist is now responsible
for the Child Guidance work at local hospitals and at our
own Clinic at Chislehurst.
I am grateful to Dr. Rodriguez, Consultant Psychiatrist, for
the following report in respect of the Chislehurst Child Guidance
Clinic, where he attends for four sessions per week.
During 1971 there has been some increase in the demands
made on the Clinic: this is reflected in the slight increase in the
number of referrals, of diagnostic assessments, and of interviews
done by the Psychiatrist and the Social Worker. In spite of this
increased volume of work, it has again been possible to reduce
the median length of the waiting list to just over nine weeks
(1968—24 weeks; 1969—16 weeks; 1970—13 weeks). More than
half the cases had their diagnostic interview within two months of
being referred; many urgent cases were seen within one or two
weeks. Without any increase in staff, it will be extremely difficult
to improve on these figures, and the long waiting list will continue
to cause frustration amongst parents and referring agencies.
Because of the lack of adequate treatment facilities, the Clinic
is still falling short of the goal of early diagnosis and effective
treatment for all the children referred. It is a matter for concern
that, due to so many other commitments, the School Psychological
Service has had to reduce the amount of work undertaken at
this Clinic. There has been an increase in the number of children
and young adolescents referred because of poor school attendance
(school phobia and truancy) and of drug abuse.
The staff of the Clinic has continued to co-operate with other
care-giving professions through informal meetings, case conferences
and discussions.
The Clinic is still collaborating with the Institute of Psychiatry
of the University of London in a pilot study, sponsored by
the World Health Organisation, on standardization of the classification
of childhood psychiatric disorders, to be incorporated in
the next edition of the International Classification of Diseases.
Teams in the United Kingdom, France and the United States of
America are collaborating in this project.
Some new furniture and toys were provided during the year.