MENTAL HOSPITALS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5469, 2 September 1929, Page 2

MENTAL HOSPITALS.

YEAR’S ACTIVITIES. REPORT BEFORE PARLIAMENT. The annual report of the Mental Hospitals Department presented, to Parliament at the later end of last week states that at the conclusion of the year 6160 people were under care and treatment in the institutions, and of that number 5903 were detained under magistrates’ reception order and 258 were admitted as voluntary boarders. The number of voluntary boarders increased by 197, or 21 per cent, of the total admissions, an increase of 13 per cent, in the last decade. During the year 439 patients and boarders were discharged as recovered, which was 35.9 per cent, calculated on the admissions. The clinics for nervous and mental affections conducted by the medical superintendents at the general hospitals in the main centres continued to carry out a useful function, and the number of those who sought advice and treatment was rapidly increasing, so much so that the time was approaching when the number cf weekly sessions would have to be increased. The usefulness of the clinics would be greatly enhanced by the setting apart of a ward in each hospital for cases which required a more exhaustive examination than was possible in an outpatient department.