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Many members of the staff have a deep understanding of these
problems and do not spare themselves to make the lives of these youngsters
as tranquil and happy as is humanly possible.
The appointment of married couples, trained and experienced in
the handling of children deprived of a normal home life, is an experiment
that will be observed with hopeful expectation, for parent surrogates to
comparative large groups do not seem psychologically possible. Hitherto
this work has been done exclusively by Charge Nurses and female staff,,
With the nursery children too,, the Home Office have suggested
the establishment of small groups, each 6 or 8 in number, embodying
children of different age and sex and including one or two babies and one
bigger girl of 11 or 12 years. To each group, constituted in this way,
one nurse (with one relief) would be allocated so that the handling of
the children would always be done by the same person and the whole group
in its social behaviour would approximate as near as possible to a family.
This fragmentation of the nursery might contribute much to the
development of the younger infants in their first 2 or 3 years, in that a
"mother figure" could exist for the little ones who need this anchorage
for normal emotional, physical and psychological development. The
present system of ward or room care by a "staff" who come and go according
to a prepared rota is confusing to infants and militates against the
natural march of their full physical and mental development.
The experiment may be costly in that more skilled staff will be
needed, but if the foundations of a better life are laid for some of these
Infants the expense will count for little against the saving in mental
ill health, which so often arises from unloved frustrated childhood.
Just as the infra-red camera is used from a great height to
trace out the ancient path through an overgrown field, so those responsible
for the welfare and nurture of these children should sometimes stand a
little apart and view synoptically and with an understanding eye, the life
of the institution child tethered with the tares of time-worn legislation
and stunted by the Inflexible fumbling fingers of those who fashion his
future.
SCABIES AND TREATMENT CENTRE.
Owing to the small number of cases attending this Centre, the
Council decided (vide Minute No. 611) at it's meeting held on 26/9/50,
to close the centre temporarily, with the proviso that the Chairman of
the Health Committee be empowered to authorise its re-opening if necessary.
The number of patients attending for the past five years
1946 1947 1948 1949 1930 (part year only)
237 77 67 46 52