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From the 3rd October there was again a full staff of three physiotherapists and
at the beginning of December the physiotherapy services were again extended, Maybury
Road Clinic coming into operation as an artificial light clinic, two sessions a week
being devoted to this form of physiotherapy on Monday morning and Thursday afternoon.
At the end of the year the following amended programme was in operation:-
Superintendent Physiotherapist Physiotherapist
Phys iotherapist (Mr.Boulton) (Miss Forrest)
Monday A.M. Grange Road Clinic Maybury Road Clinic Spastic Unit
P.M. Spastic Unit Spastic Unit Forest Street Clinic
A.M. - Spastic Unit Spastic Unit
Tuesday
P.M. - Spastic Unit Spastic Unit
A.M. Spastic Unit Spastic Unit Forest Street Clinic
Wednesday
P.M. Spastic Unit Maybury Road Clinic Spastic Unit
A.M. - Spastic Unit Spastic Unit
Thursday
P.M. - Maybury Road Clinic Spastic Unit
A.M. Grange Road Clinic Spastic Unit Spastic Unit
Friday
P.M. Spastic Unit Spastic Unit Forest Street Clinic
Children are usually referred to the physiotherapist by the local authority medical
officers. An increasing number of general practitioners refer cases. Specialists at a
number of London hospitals also wish cases, chiefly asthma and bronchitis, to be treated
at the local clinics to save the parents and children the trouble and time of travelling
long distances. The consultant paediatrician and the ear, nose and throat specialist
refer cases from time to time.
Children with the slighter degrees of flat foot, valgus ankles, knock knees and poor
posture are treated by remedial exercises, mainly in the form of exercise classes, massage
is given when necessary. The classes for foot defects yield satisfactory results, and this
lends support to the view that -these conditions, if dealt with in the early stages, can be
more easily remedied and probably spared the need for later treatment at an orthopaedic
clinic. Usually only the more severe cases are referred to an orthopaedic surgeon and for
the past four years there has been a marked fall in the number of children so referred.
Many cases of asthma, bronchitis and recurrent upper respiratory infection are given
breathing exercises, modified according to the particular type of chest condition. A
number of these cases, as also cases of general debility from many and varied causes are
also given general ultra-violet irradiation. Artificial sunlight or ultra-violet irradiation
as it is termed is given by a special type of mercury vapour lamp - "Centrosol" - which
enables a number of children to be treated simultaneously in a group. All the above
facilities, provided on premises which are easily accessible and well known to the parents
and children, encourage acceptance of treatment at a stage when it will be really preventive.
Much valuable work was carried out for many of the children at the Elizabeth Fry
Special School, and these, together with the children in attendance at the Spastic Unit,
and those attending the Unit as out-patients, were treated in the well-equipped Unit. As
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