MENTAL HOSPITALS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 17, 15 October 1919, Page 2

MENTAL HOSPITALS

LAST YEAR'S WORK

REMARKS BY THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL

The ieport on the mental hospitals of ithi) Dominion for the year 1918 etateß that the admissions numbered 839 (males 487, females 402); the. male admissions wore 33 lower'and .'the' female 28. Iv.gher than in the previous year. Among tlieso admissions are included 7 immigrants, (one with a history'of previous attacks) who had been here for less "'than a year, and 35 New Zeallaiidors. were, admitted after return from alxroad (two ■with a history'of previous attacks)..... The. total, number of patients discharged (excluding transfers) was' 300 (males 171, females 189), of which 283 (males' 142,.females HI), were discharged as recovered. The remaining 77 (males 29, females 43),. though not. recovered, were sufficiently well to "be placed under.the care of relatives or friends. . .

•'The results in the case of persons remanded for observation and in the treatment of voluntary boarders, whereby ninny o.ro saved from being committed as patients, arc distinctly encouraging," says the Inspector-General (Dr. F. Hay). "Altogether 114 such inmates recovered or., left much' improved without formal admission as patients. This means a reduction, of the recovery-rate in our statistics .in the appendix, a factor which should be kept in mind in mak - 'ng comparisons with former years before the.present system was established. The* above figures disclose an increasing desiro to utilise at an early stage of-the disorder tho improving resources of our i mental hospitals, and in not' a few instances ex-patients have returned for a • period as voluntary boarders.

"The recovery-rate is also reduced by the inclusion in; the statistics of the mentally deficient, where recovery is manifestly impossible. It is hoped in tho near future to segregate. younger mentally deficient perspns in a -separate institution and deal with thenr statistics apart from those of patients iaboriring under acquired mental, disease. This segregation will be an advantage- from all points of view, and will enable these deficients to be classified and,,trained according to their capacity for improve- - ment. Some can merely lie cared for, others, by tho exerolse of .infinite patienco, can bo taught, to : .dress and feed themselves, others) -will progress as far as to assist in the work of the ward, and - those of higher grade can be taught to be .farm, and garden workers or domestics; while the best can be taught to pursue some trnde. Whether those with • sufficient capacity should after training bo allowed to compete in the labour market is another matter, and need not be considered now,. ... ■■

"A further factor' prejudicing tho .re-covery-rate ie the undue proportion of senile cases; admitted. A large number of these patients could with little diffi-i culty be managed in a properly administered Old People's Home. Over 20 per, ■cent, of the admissions in the year under review were contributed between the congonitally deficient and persons mentally iitfirm through advancing age. At the, present time thero.are about threo hun--. dred patients who could be ..eared, for in fojno simpler and les-i expensive institution' than d mental hospital.

"Yet another source of reduction in the recovery-rate :'s due to the carelessness of convalescent patients permitted out. on probation. Under- the Act, siich persons should provide a medical certificate of recovery, before tho. expiry of .the period of absence on leave, otherwise, they must be entered in the' rpgister' os "not recovered." Some, of course, have not recovered but are harmless, nnd: continue well enough to remiun .in the care oftheir friends, but 'in the case of otheTS the medical, superintendent bxiws that recovery is almost certain, and frequently the eertificafo r as,., required by the Apt which sho'md' convey this information,, furnished after Viking inanities and appeals, comes too late, to permit tha recov.; ery being recorded,"