NO NEW MENTAL HOSPITAL YET

Press, Volume C, Issue 29515, 17 May 1961, Page 10

NO NEW MENTAL HOSPITAL YET

(Naw Zealand Prtat Association)

WELLINGTON. May 18New Zealand's present mental hospital works pro. gramme was based on the assumption that It would not be necessary for many years to begin any new mental bos. pitai s and that even metropolitan hospitals could ultimately be kept below a limit of 850 beds. j v „ This was said today by Dr. G. Blake-Palmer, director of the Mental Health Division. Department of Health, commenting on newspaper reports which, in comparing English and New Zealand mental hospital provisions, criticised this country’s efforts as out-dated. Figures of admission to mental hospitals could measure only the extent to which the community made use of the hospitals' services, he said. In communities where good facilities were readily available admission rates tended to be high. New Zealand's rates were no higher than those for other countries with comparable social and medical standards. It must be remembered that discharge rates also were high. Functions Vary "The functions which a community assigns to its mental hospitals will vary with time, space, cultural background, and medical traditions.” said Dr. Blake-Palmer. “Comparisons between the published figures of any two countries must also take account of administrative dif-

ferences which may lead the >t investigator into unwitting > error. ,e "As an example of this risk, >t it is pertinent to quote the 1 English practice Of miblishing s- figures for mental illness and >- for mental subnonmality sepi- arately. In present New Zcait land publications those figures are combined.” he said. r. “The Mental Health Divi>f sion shares the hope of the i. English Ministry of Hea’th i- that over the next two de. .. cades there will be sign illg cant reduction in the ratio of d mental hospital beds to total s. population." f. Dr. Blake-Palmer said that a positive therapeutic role o was assigned to the mental i- hospital in the overall deh velopment of New Zealand »f health services. 1 It through the skilled ded velopment of new resources I- in treatment, the mental hosd pitai was ultimately responsible for its own attenuation, e the Division of Mental Health it would welcome the oppor- ■- tunity to devote further rcI- sources to community care. 1 New Boiler.—-An extra boiler for the Christchurch Hospital arrived yesterday B from Dunedin, and will be installed early next week. It h will provide needed extra . hot water and steam to help > out the existing boilers until t. the new boilerhouse comes e into operation in a year or o two. The boiler was fore merly at the Parkside Hospitai. Dunedin.