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The medical officer and social worker were able to help with the problems and crises of the special
Adjustment to Work group, through discussion with senior staff of the college and the tutors to
the group. Problems were varied and deep, ranging from persistent pilfering, unmarried mothers to
be, to racial hatred and intolerance. The overseas group presented their own problems often due to
difficulties in adapting themselves to city life and to anxieties about their health. Students, particularly
those from overseas, were encouraged to avail themselves of B.C.G. vaccination. During the summer
term three morning sessions were taken for films and talks on such subjects as personal relationships,
venereal disease, and drug dependency. All students attended on a voluntary basis. The
service available at Holborn College was slightly different in emphasis from that of Kingsway Day
College and was only in the introductory stages during 1966. The initial sessions revealed a good
response from students and a very helpful attitude from the Principal and the welfare officers.
TREATMENT FACILITIES
No major changes took place during the year in the treatment facilities available apart
from the closure of the refraction clinic for school children at Moorfields Eye Hospital. The
provision of an additional school eye clinic on an alternate weekly basis at Somers Town and
St. Pancras School Treatment Centres helped to relieve the pressure and to reduce the waiting
list.
66 school children were treated by a chiropodist and some 75 special diathermy sessions
were held for the treatment of warts at two school treatment centres. As may be expected, the
demand for diathermy treatment increased during the summer months when children are more exposed
to plantar wart infection when bare foot.
CHILD GUIDANCE
Although there is no child guidance clinic in Camden run by the Inner London Education
Authority, there is no shortage of child guidance facilities in the area. In addition to the Child
Guidance Training Centre at Daleham Gardens (which moved to Belsize Lane in March, 1967) and
the Tavistock Clinic, children may be referred to University College Hospital, the Royal Free
Hospital, the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
Hospital. Many children also attend clinics outside the Borough, such as the Marlborough Day
Hospital, and the Paddington Day Clinic.
This abundance of facilities has sometimes led to difficulties in communication. With
this in mind a meeting was held in 1966 to which representatives from child guidance clinics
were invited, together with representatives from the Inner London Education Authority and the
Camden Health Department, To facilitate discussions, each of the clinics was asked to complete
a questionnaire setting out details of catchment areas, waiting lists, interests in any particular
aspects of child guidance and any suggestions for closer co-operation between the clinics and
the health department.
The meeting provided a useful opportunity for doctors and others involved in child psychiatry
at field level to exchange ideas on an informal basis. The way was left open for further meetings
of this kind, but they will not be held as a routine.
AUDIOMETRY
All children in primary and secondary schools in the Borough have had sweep tests by
an experienced school nurse, who, acquainted with children in ordinary schools with a hearing
loss, occupies a key role in their close follow up too.
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