[Report 1972] / School Medical Officer of Health, Exeter.

  • Exeter (England). City Council.
Date:
1972
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1972] / School Medical Officer of Health, Exeter. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Community Nursing Services. the unit. To avoid the need for mothers to attend two clinics it was arranged that one of our doctors would hold a developmental assessment clinic in the hospital each week. This arrangement has proved very satisfactory and is another link in the close co-operation between our department and the hospital. The aim of developmental assessment is to identify at an early stage any deviation from “ normal ” development— it is impossible to define “ normal ” in this context as individual and family traits will influence this. Having identified an apparent deviation action will vary according to circumstances from simply keeping the child under observation to a more intensive diagnostic examination. Plans are now well advanced for the building of a multi- disciplinary assessment centre in Exeter by the Department of Health. This will enable complete diagnostic examina- tion by doctors, psychologist, educationists, speech therapists and other disciplines that must be involved if a total assess- ment of a child’s ability is to be made. One group of children we have been concerned with in Exeter for some time are those we term “ socially deprived ” children who through lack of stimulation by play and conversation do not develop their full potential and start school at a disadvantage which may continue throughout their school life. Arrangements were made during the year with the Play Groups Association to run a playgroup for “ socially deprived ” children in the Shakespeare Road clinic which the Committee allows the group to use without charge. This has now started and is proving very successful, though unfortunately is only able to help a small proportion of the children needing such help. There is a great need for several such playgroups in the City. Attachment of all nursing staff is now complete and in most practices the health visitor and midwives are respon- sible also for visiting practice patients in the County area. It is hoped during 1973 to extend this to include all practices and also the home nurses. The role of the health visitor is changing and the concentration on the care of infants and young children is taking up less of their time though still remaining an important part of their work. The elderly are now involving more of their time and with attachment they are necessarily more involved in medico-social family problems that they previously did not know of. Their new role is not yet a clearly defined one and is disturbing to some health visitors, but I can see that a pattern will emerge as they are called in to meet new situations.