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27
"The 'At Risk Register' was first put into effect in the
London Borough of Redbridge on 1st December, 1965. It has
been referred to since its inception as 'The Observation
Register', in order to avoid any unnecessary confusion or
worry to the parents of infants who would be included on the
register and subsequently followed up.
The nature of the observation register, the manner in which
it has been compiled and the follow-up procedures resulting
therefrom have to a large extent followed the pattern described
by Dr. Mary Sheridan as published in the Monthly Bulletin of the
Ministry of Health and The Public Health Laboratory Service
(1962, 21, 238).
However, certain adaptations of Dr. Sheridan's scheme and
notification factors were deemed necessary, and considerable
thought and investigation was made before the Redbridge
Observation Register was finally launched.
A form of "notification factors" was drafted and was
divided into the following groups of predisposing factors!-
1. Genetic
2. Prenatal
3. Perinatal
4. Postnatal
5. Symptomatic (concerning children during and
after the neonatal period)
Subsequently the opinions of local consultant obstetricians
and paediatricians were sought on relative factors, and Dr.
E. V. Kuenssburg (member of the Dunlop Committee on the
Safety of Drugs) was consulted on the inclusion of certain
additional drugs in the prenatal factor concerning the use of
drugs during pregnancy. The final form of notification of factors
was then completed and is now in current use.
A preliminary explanatory meeting with the Redbridge
departmental medical officers, district midwives, and health
visitors was held, and the general practitioners in the Redbridge
area were circularised or visited personally to explain
and request their co-operation in the scheme.
Before an infant is actually placed on the registe'r, the
notification forms and hospital discharge summaries are carefully
examined by the medical officer in charge. A health
visitor is then asked to call on the parents of the infant concerned
to explain personally the meaning and advantages of