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wards the travelling costs of relatives visiting patients in hospital. Alto- gether 5,769 grants were made from the fund to enable patients and their relatives to attend hospitals and clinics throughout Hong Kong. 406. Expenditure from the Leprosy Fund rose to $5,511.60 and was largely disbursed in the form of assistance towards the rents paid by families of leprosy patients who are the Hei Ling Chau Leprosarium for long periods of treatment. The poorest families may receive grants of up to 60% of the monthly rent in Resettlement Estates.

407. The Special Treatment vote is used for the provision of sur- gical appliances to those who are unable to pay for them and who cannot receive aid from other agencies. Disbursements are made by the Principal Almoner on the basis of a full social report. The almoners also assist the staff of the Surgical Appliance Centre, the physiotherapists and the occupational therapists, in the problem of ensuring that appli- ances, once fitted, are fully used and maintained.

408. Generous donations of free foods, made by the C.A.R.E., the Catholic Relief Services, the Church World Service, the Lutheran World Service and U.N.I.C.E.F.. were available for distribution by the Almoners and are gratefully acknowledged.

409. The medical social work of the Almoner Service was greatly assisted by the co-operation afforded by the Family Welfare Society, the Church World Service. Caritas, the Family Planning Association, the Hong Kong Branch of the British Red Cross Society, the Lutheran World Service, and the Po Leung Kuk. The Social Welfare Department and the Resettlement Department continued to give valuable co-opera- tion in their respective spheres.

PHYSIOTHERAPY

410. The Headquarters of this service is at the Physiotherapy Train- ing School which is housed in part of the old Pathology Institute in Caine Lane on Hong Kong Island. Physiotherapy units are maintained in the Queen Mary, Kowloon and Lai Chi Kok Hospitals and in the Wan Chai Polyclinic. A small unit operated in Castle Peak Hospital for a period of 4 months, but the increasing demand for physiotherapy in Kowloon Hospital, which has the busiest physiotherapy unit in the Colony, has made it necessary to transfer the staff from Castle Peak.

411. Clinics for post-poliomyelitis cases are held at the Wan Chai Polyclinic and in the Kowloon Hospital where treatment and the fitting of appliances is carried out on the advice of the orthopaedic surgeons.

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Hydrotherapy tanks are available at both centres, Children are taught medical exercises in classes, this being the best method whereby large numbers of patients can receive prolonged spells of exercise which do not require the use of a treatment couch. The size of the children's classes increased steadily, and mothers were also taught how exercises can be continued in the home. Health Visitors of the Maternal and Child Health Service pay home visits in cases of irregular attendances in order to stress the importance of continued physiotherapy. A special class was opened in the Wan Chai Polyclinic to serve the increasing number of lower limb amputees.

412. At Queen Mary Hospital the number of pre- and post-operative chest surgery cuses referred for physiotherapy during the year has been considerably reduced with the transfer of the Tuberculosis Thoracic Unit to the Grantham Hospital; on the other hand, physiotherapy work in connexion with neuro-surgery expanded very considerably.

413. There is a steady demand for physiotherapy amongst the con- valescent cases in Lai Chi Kok Hospital, With the co-operation of the Occupational Therapists, out-door activities such as table-tennis, ball games, darts and archery are provided for the wheel-chair patients.

ORTHOPAEDIC AND PROSTHETIC APPLIANCES

414. This Surgical Appliance Centre is temporarily accommodated at the Harcourt Health Centre. The technical staff was increased during the year and now includes a technician-in-charge. 4 student assistant technicians under training and 6 artisans.

415. The role of the centre is to provide a variety of prostheses, the majority for lower limb amputees, and to develop production procedures which are suitable to the climatic and social conditions existing in Hong Kong. A number of suitable procedures have been evolved and the standardization of some appliance parts has permitted the use of mass produced components with a consequent reduction in production time. With the increase in staff and the developing experience of the techni- cians the output of the unit has increased considerably. 231 appliances or prostheses were produced as compared with 24 in the previous year. Actual revenue for the year was $28,049 compared to $2,005 in 1960.

416, Development work on above-knee sockets and alignment jigs is now almost complete and long term results are being assessed. An adjustable socket and stand has been developed and successfully used, cnabling the technicians to take a preshaped and aligned cast for above-

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