View report page

A continuing venture has been an annual summer camp, This has been most valuable in
providing a relaxed setting for the valuation of speech defects and their associated problems,
and also in giving an opportunity for a short spell of intensive therapy when advisable.
Physiotherapy
Regular physiotherapy sessions are carried out at the Elizabeth Fry Day School for the
Physically Handicapped and the John F, Kennedy Junior Training Centre. Additional sessions are
held subject to available staff and minor ailment clinics in the Borough and the Adult Training
Centre. Physiotherapy staff also arrange pony riding exercises and swimming exercises for the
disabled children.
I hope I was able in this very brief summary to highlight some of the salient points in
our Child Health Service. A discipline of developmental paediatrics cannot be practised in
isolation. It requires the collaboration of professional workers in interdisciplinary scenes
at all levels and stages of assessment. Starting with the Medical Officer, Health Visitor team
in the Child Health Session, proceeding to more complex teamwork in the Development Clinic,
Audiology Clinic, Education Case Conference, Leavers' Conferences, Special School Conferences,
Dyslexia Unit Team, and Remedial Speech Therapy Teams. Hospital Consultants participate in the
work in Clinics, special schools and centres. Liaison is maintained with General Practitioners
and other Hospital Consultants which is sometimes reinforced by Health Visitor attachment
schemes both to general practices and Hospitals. The experience in our Borough leads us to
believe that community paediatric work is best carried out within the community with Hospital
Consultants working in our Centres and special schools with other professional workers in the
community, It is hard to believe that this complex work with interdisciplinary teams working
in the community can be more effectively managed and organised from a Hospital Outpatient Clinic
with one Local Authority Medical Officer in attendance acting as a Liaison Officer, Above
all,the Consultants themselves by the interest and enthusiasm with which they participate in and
enrich our work prove the validity of our policy.
The complexity of administrative arrangements to make this scheme work is obvious and
practical problems at first seemed to be insuperable, but I am glad to say it has been overcome
and work in this Service is most rewarding.
Dental Service
The Chief Dental Officer, Mr. P. Chandler, reports as follows
Over the period 1965/1970 there was a steady increase in the number of children having
dental inspections in school each year. The increase was from about 50% of the school
population in 1965, to approximately 10% in 1970. The number of fillings increased by about
20%, while the ratio of teeth filled to teeth extracted showed a continuous rise for both
deciduous and permanent teeth. Work such as orthodontics, crowns, root fillings, etc.
continued at a satisfactory level. The amount of treatment given to expectant and nursing
mothers declined slightly, Since the abolition of a charge for dental treatment under the
National Health Service for this section of the conmunity a falling off in demand for treatment
from the local authority service has been a continuing trend, although this trend appears to
be slowing up. The number of pre-school children treated increased and the ratio of teeth
filled to teeth extracted showed a satisfactory rise.
29