title: Links between records of a regional burns unit and a local authority children and families consultation service.
abstract: The potential for psychological disturbance occurring in burned children during and after treatment as inpatients in specialized burns units had been described by several authors by the mid 1970s. Some of those writers were aware that some children had been psychologically disturbed before they sustained thermal injury, and for some that psychological disturbance had rendered them susceptible to injury. This paper examines links between case records of a Regional Burns Unit (RBU) and a fully comprehensive local authority child and families consultation service (CFCS) situated within that region. Eleven names were found in both sets of records and the overlap was found to be statistically significant. More children were burned several years before attendance at the CFCS than the reverse. In only one case was there an immediate causal link. These findings linked with those of earlier writers to suggest both an individual and a family vulnerability to referral to both services. By looking at links between case records this survey has emphasized that such vulnerabilities exist over time, often for many years. Immediate causal links, for instance, psychological disturbance leading to thermal injury and psychological disturbance during or following inpatient treatment for thermal injury, are only part of a wider picture.
authors.affiliation: Regional Plastic and Jaw Surgery Centre, Mount Vernon Hospital, Northwood, Middlesex, UK.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Benians
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002053:Burn Units; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000150:complications; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003153:Community Health Services; D005196:Family Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008498:Medical Record Linkage