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"Attendances.— In my report at the end of last year, I drew
attention to the high percentage (85) of attendances throughout
the year, for this seemed to me to offer some indication of the
need of the Clinic, and also of its popularity among its clientele.
Almost always a child is brought for attendance by one or other
of the parents, who might well be expected to fail to register an
attendance at the Clinic unless they could be made to feel that
an attendance was worth while. It is a pleasure to be able to
report that during the last year the regular attendance of the
children has been surprisingly good. At each session the number
of attendances has averaged 95 per cent, of the number of
children appointed to attend. This figure could hardly be surpassed
since a certain number are bound to be absent on account
of intercurrent illness.
"Holiday attendances.— In order to shorten as far as possible
the waiting list of children referred to the Clinic by the School
Medical Staff, and to ensure that children are seen as soon as
possible after they have been so referred, Clinics have sometimes
been held during the school holidays. Attendance at these times
has been as good as during term times, in fact at some of the
holiday Clinics the attendance has reached 100 per cent, of the
children notified to attend.
"Waiting List.— During the last year it has been possible to
reduce the waiting list from 98 children to 45. This is largely
on account of the good weather which prevailed through much of
the year, and which reduced considerably the number of
children complaining of pains in their limbs. It is to be hoped
that it will be possible to keep the waiting list down to at least
its present level, for one of the purposes of the Clinic is to prevent
as far as possible the spread of rheumatic symptoms in the
individual child and this is only possible if the child is seen at a
short interval after being referred to the Clinic. A long waiting
list is not to be commended.
"Sessions.— During the past year there have been 46 sessions
with 800 attendances. Of these attendances, 217 were made by
children attending for the first time, while 583 were made by
children who were being kept under observation. A certain
number of children after attending the Clinic for a few months,
were considered to be free of Rheumatism, and were discharged.
Others were considered not to be rheumatic at their first attendance.
A certain number of children have also been discharged
on account of reaching school leaving age, and in these cases
advice has been offered to the parents with regard to suitable
employment when there has been a sufficient degree of cardiac
disease to make the choice of employment a matter of judgment
on medical grounds. In all, 203 children were discharged from
further attendance.