REFORM NEEDED

NZ Truth, Issue 1215, 14 March 1929, Page 1

REFORM NEEDED

Porirua Inquest Reveals Hospital Defects

INQUIRY ESSENTIAL

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Representative). Judgment has been delivered and officialdom has settled down once more with smug complacency into its corner from whence it was aroused by the suspicions and charges of Jthe uninitiated. Unwarrantably aroused, . says officialdom, but despite the fact that the untimely death of a nurse at the Porirua Mental Hospital saw a smouldering pot of discontent at that establishment bubble over, it has simmered down again.

THE officials, and also Mr. Barton, the magistrate, have apparently satisfied themselves that all — or mostly all — is as it should be at the hospital. In the recent coroner's enquiry into the death of Miss Paynter at that institution, certain specific charges and complaints were laid at the door of those m authority and Mr. Barton, after mature and considered judgment, has seen fit to. exonerate them from all blame. While there were statements made at the enquiry that could not bear substantiation, . there were others which the coroner saw fit to brush aside as of little consequence. "While an inquest, brought primarily to enquire into the death of any person is not the ocqagion to 'delve into a rightly considered, m Hhe Porirua inquest, that certain things connected

with Miss Paynter's death needed looking into. But he erred m that he did not carry his enquiry as far as the position warranted. No doubt he realised he was not a constituted commission looking into the conduct of this institution. It is significant, however, that m his written judgment Mr. Barton referred to minds obsessed with "certain beliefs ... m an atmosphere of rumor, distrust, and m some cases, resentment." At the present moment, that is just exactly what the atmosphere at Porirua is, and this paper even goes further and states that the hospital is m a fever of distrust, discontent and resentment. Nothing short of a commission to enquire into the management and control of the institution and the methods under which the attendants and nurses are asked to work will clear up the matter. The present state of affairs has been m existence at Porirua for some time now, and the recent death of Miss Paynter, when nurses were resentful at what they considered the callous treatment shown towards one of their number, brought some of the trouble to the surface. There is not the slightest doubt that the medical testimony as to the cause of death is correct, but there are many other points which leave room for comment. Dr. Lynch's expert, evidence came from a man wfrvb conducts all the post-mortem examinations m the city and while it is not sug-

gested he mis-stated any facts, ali the "might have been's" and "might be so's" which he delivered could have been elaborated. On his examination of the body, Dr. Lynch said it was that of a wellnourished and healthy, girl. In this the coroner agreed, having himself seen Miss Paynter after her death. In the subsequent charges of neglect levelled at the institution, however, it was stated that the deceased girl had been neglected m the matter of feeding.' Counsel for the medical superintendent stressed the fact that if the girl had been starved, or nearly so, how could her body be m a wellnourished condition? The fact was not brought out at. the enquiry that Miss Paynter was an excessively stout girl weighing just death, or just prior to it, this paper is reliably informed, her weight dropped

to ten and a-half stone during the course of her illness. Even at such a weight the girl would present a figure well - nourished and proportioned. Therefore there was no substantiation of the superintendent's statement that the girl was properly fed — going on the general appearance of the girl after her death. H© did not see what the girl ate. In his judgment the coroner said the matron, the charge nurse and the masseuse had the confidence of the deceased girl, but such a, bald statement is not borne out by the evidence. The girl herself, complained to several of her companions — girls m positions similar to .herself — that she was sure the doctor thought she was "putting it on." She had gone on to duty for "peace and quietness sake." She had been told to buck up and go on duty, so witnesses said. Scraps of the ghTs conversation, as related during the Inquest, must have had some foundation m fact In view of the fact that Porirua, with its magnificent buildings, and gardens, fields and pastures are a public asset worth anything up to a quarter of a million of money and also that there are upwards of two thousand souls m the institution, m the public interest there should be some searching enquiry into the conduct and control of the institution. Then, and only then, will there be a possibility of peace and harmony there. Understafflng is half the trouble and under present arrangements, nurses come and go every week m the year. Obviously an inquiry is needed.'