OVERCROWDED ASYLUMS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 421, 1 August 1928, Page 8

OVERCROWDED ASY LUMS

MENTAL HOSPITALS REPORT SERIOUS FLAWS IN SYSTEM

(THE SUSS Piz riuimcittarjf W ELLINGTON, That the estimated annua! — t in the number of insane under tre«Z ment in Xew Zealand is 200 is closed in the annual mental hosnt».u, report. Three main hospitals. land. Porirua and Dunedin, each h» a permanent population of over 1 *3? while Sunnyside, Christchurch, has Via and the number in smaller hospital brings the total to 5.673, which is q* total number in the hands of th« de , par Linen t.

Grievous overcrowding is indicate by the fact that there are altogether 820 patients in excess of the ■acco Ja . modation. The shortage of space a particularly evident in the four largehospitals. Concerning Auckland the report states that the department fias entered into active occupation of th« estate on which new buildings are to be erected. The preliminary operations of drainage, fencing and planting are now being undertaken. At Christchurch new facilities at Templeton will relieve the pressure *t Sunnyside, and permit improved classification. At Porirua a new home for nurses is being erected. Speaking generally, the report observes that New Zealand’s methods of treatment compare favourably whix methods adopted overseas. Arrangements were completed during the year to avoid the conveyance of patients to hospital in police vans, and police on escort duty now wear mufti. “There is still a serious flaw in ©ur system,” say sthe report. Patients are still occasionally lodged in prism' pending committal. This can only be remedied by the erection at the mtan general hospitals of small observation blocks to accommodate between sir and a dozen patients pending determination of their cases.” After complimenting the Department on the results achieved at the Porirua Mental Hospital Farm, Mr. W. H. Field. Otaki, went on to say that the parole system, by which patients from the asylum, considered safe by the authorities, were given a sort of restricted liberty in the neighbourhood, wn* causing much uneasiness in Porirua. THE AUCKLAND INSTITUTION The case for replacement of the mental hospital at Avondale, Auckland, was presented by Mr. W. E. Parry (Auckland Central), who asked when the proposed new mental hospital would be built. Mr. J. A. Lee pointed out that some time ago, Sir Maui Pomare, then Minister in Charge of Mental Hospitals, had referred to replacement of Avondale Asylum, and the construction hi its place of a new asylum in the country near Auckland as a matter of urgency. At the same time the announcement had been made of the purchase of a site of 600 acres near Drury, on the shores of the Manukau Harbour, and the facilities to be enjoyed, including bathing and the use of a launch on the harbour, had been attractively pictured. Now, however, the tightening of the purse-strings had evidently compelled the Minister (the Hon. J. A. Young) to remove the project from the list of urgent works. AT SUNNYSIDE Sunnyside requirements were discussed by Messrs. D. Buddo, H. 8. S. Kyle, D. G. Sullivan and E. J. Howard. Mr. Buddo suggested that acquisition of a new site for Sunnyside should be considered, but Mr. E. J. Howard said the present position would be good for several years yet. Mr. Sullivan referred to rumours of ill-treatment of patients by attendants. These rumours were scouted by the Minister, who read a letter from a Christchurch clergyman, approving the great improvements effected at Sunnyside. Touching on the removal of the institution from Avondale the Minister said that many preliminaries, including the question of water-supply, had to be determined before building on the new* site could proceed. There was no “go slow” about the Mental Hospitals Department. Concerning Mr. Field's complaint, be said he was assured that no harmful patient was ever let outside the Porirua Hospital grounds. The one patient allowed outside the grounds to whom Mr. Field’s charge could possibly refer was a man who had once been insane, and had killed his son. That man, however, was now considered perfectly sane.