September, 1948 P H Y S I O T H E R A P Y Page Seven Reciprocity Between Britain and the Union W e are pleased to be able to announce that negotiations have now been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. The follow ing re­ marks form the gist o f a letter dated 27th July, 1948, which has been received by our President' from Miss Neilson, secretary o f the C.S.P. The Committee o f the Chartered Society has noted that no provision apparently exists under the South A frican Medical, Dental and Pharmacy A ct which w ould enable the South African Medical Council to enter into an agreement for reciprocal legislation w ith an auxiliary body such as the C.S.P. This natur­ ally rendered it impossible fo r further steps to be taken w ith that body. Despite this, however, Miss Neilson points out that her Comm ittee fully approves o f reciprocity being granted to members o f the South A frican Society o f Physiotherapists. Such members, whilst not being actually placed as members o f the C.S.P. will be eligible fo r enrolm ent on a Supplementary List m aintained by her Society. A t the present tim e, m any Australian and N ew Zealand physiotherapists have taken advantage o f this provision. Enrolm ent on this List entitles D om inion physiotherapists to practise in hospitals in Britain at the full scale o f salary recom m ended for members o f the Chartered Society and it is hoped that when South A frican physio­ therapists visit England they will first n otify our General Secretary w ho will get into touch w ith M iss Neilson on their behalf. In short, this means that, whilst the C.S.P. is unable, through circum stances out o f their control, to grant recip rocity to physiotherap­ ists w ho have trained in the U nion and have subsequently registered with the South A fri­ can M edical and Dental Council, they are perfectly w illing to accord reciprocity to all physiotherapists w ho are members o f the South A frican Society o f Physiotherapists. Notes from the Branches C ape P ro v in c e : The A n n u a l G e n e r a l m e e t in g w a s held in J u l y , and was fairly well attended. M e m b e r s are, ho w e ve r, a s k e d to attend ge n e r a l mee tin gs , and thos e r e a d e r s w h o have not attend ed fo r a lo ng time, m ig ht t ak e special note o f this request. T h e p r o s p e r it y o f a n y s oci et y depends on the active suppo rt o f ' a l l m e m be r s, and if the Cape B r a n c h is to t a k e its sh a re in the S o c i e t y ’s affairs, a g r e a t e r in te res t in its fu n ct i o n i n g will have to be displayed b y thos e w h o do not att en d m e e ti n g s regularly. The new com m it tee w a s elected as f o l l o w s : C h a i r ­ man, M is s S u t h e r l a n d ; V i c e - C h a i r m a n , S i s t e r H a r g r e a v e s ; Ho n. S e c r e t a r y , M r. S c h e r m b r u c k e r ; Hon. T re a s u r e r, M is s G o l d m a n ; C om m itt ee mem ber , Miss W a t s o n ; wit h M is s K e r r an d M is s L e e s as c o ­ opted members. T h e m eeting hea rd, w it h re g re t , tha t M i s s P . Rice , Hon. T r e a s u r e r since 1946, is le a vi ng C a p e T o w n , probably for K e n y a . S h e has the good w is h e s o f her colleagues for success in her fut ur e activities. A ll new m e m b e r s a r e h e a r t i ly we lcomed. T h e i r names will a p p e a r in the n e x t issue. C.E.C. NOTES Miss M. Elms lie , S e n io r p h ys io t h e r ap is t at P r e t o r i a Hospital, w ho is in E n g l a n d at present, has been elected as official re p r e se n ta t i v e o f the S . A . S . P . at the International C o n g r e ss on P h y s i o t h e r a p y w hi ch is to be held in L o n d o n on S e p t e m b e r 23rd-25th. S h e has also been ap pointed to act as liaison officer in Eng land between the A p p o i n t m e n t s S e c r e t a r y and prospective applicants fo r posts in So ut h A f r i c a . M is s S u s i e O ost hu ize n has been invited b y the S . A . A s s o c ia t i o n o f O ccu pa ti ona l T h e r a p i s t s to act on t he ir A d v i s o r y B o a r d fo r th e e ns ui ng ye ar . In the ab se nc e o f M i s s M . C at t, w h o is still in E n g l a n d , M r s . J . M . C o r d e r h as k i n d ly un de rta ke n to act as a lt e rn at e on the A u x i l i a r i e s C o m m itt e e of the S . A . M e d ic a l Council. A c c o m p a n ie d b y M i s s C. G. T r o u g h t o n , she att e nd e d a m e e t in g o f tha t c o m ­ mittee on A u g u s t gth. W e w e lc om e M i s s J e a n B l a i r b ac k fr o m her trip to E n g la n d . C O R R E S P O N D E N C E . Sir, H a v i n g e xp e ri e n ce d the diffidence o f p h y s i o t h e r a ­ pists to put pen to pa p e r an d w r i t e art ic les for their jour nal , the idea has o cc u rr e d to me that, wh ile fe e li n g dou btf ul ab out w r i t in g • a l e n g t h y pa p e r for publication, m a n y m ig h t g i ve s ho rt acco unts o f specific t re a t m e n t s w h ic h t h e y ha ve tried, succ ess fu lly , in the fo r m o f a lett er to the J o u r n a l . A s an ex am ple, I g i v e the e sse nti al points of m y ow n m e t h o d s o f d e a li n g w it h a st if f hand. I em p lo y fa r a di sm , a s a routine, not on ly on account o f its ph ys io lo gi ca l effe cts but b ec au se o f its p r o ­ fo und p s yc h ol og ic a l stimulus to the p a t ie n ts ’ act iv e eff ort s. T h e patien ts see the c u rr e n t m o v i n g the fi ngers, the ir int ere st is stimulated, a nd their c o ­ op e ra ti on is the m o r e r e a d i ly obtained. Sec on dl y, so m e tor m o f heat, eithe r d i a t h e r m y or i n fr a - re d radiation, follows. T h e hand b ec om es sufficiently supple fo r gen tle, pa s si ve m ani pul at io ns, and then, par ex cellence, acti ve m ov e m e nt s , occup ation al e x e r ­ cises and vi g o r o u s e nc o u ra g e m e n t fo r the patie nts to p e r f o r m the se m o v e m e n t s in the inte rv al b etw ee n tre a tm e nt s. I t would be in t e re s t in g to he ar fr o m othe r re a d e r s on this subject, s u r e l y one o f the most ard uou s fo r the p h ys io th er ap ist . G. S. Schermbrucker. R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 3. )